OBITUARY. 


Mrs.   Elizabeth  Diidd  Smith,  Widow  of 
the  I, ate  (ien.  Thomas  Kllby  Smith. 

It  is  becoming  that  the  death  of  this  gen- 
tlo  woman  should  receive  more  than  a 
passing  notice,  for  she  exemplified  during 
a  long  life  so  many  distinguishing  virtues 
that  her  memory  should  be  cherished. 

She  was  born  at  the  little  village  of  As- 
bury,  Warren  county,  New  Jersey,  on  the 
l*th  of  June,  1827,  and  died  at  the  residence 
of  her  son,  Walter  George  Smith,  in  this 
city,  on  the  16th  of  February,  LSi)!».  Thus 
she  had  completed  the  three  score  years 
and  ten  allotted  to  mankind.  Her  father, 
Dr.  William  l>udd  McCullough,  came 
from  an  old  New  Jersey  family,  which 
had  intermarried  with  the  Budds  and 
other  ancient  Philadelphia  families.  Her 
grandfather,  Colonel  William  McCul- 
lough,  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier  and 
had  been  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  his  district.  On  her  mother's 
side  she  came  of  the  family  of  Piatt,  nota 
ble,  too,  for  the  service  of  its  members  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  and  afterwards 
as  pioneers  in  the  Ohio  valley.  The  death 
of  her  mother  when  she  and  a  younger 
sister  were  of  tender  years  led  to  their 
being  adopted  into  the  family  of  her 
grandfather,  Judge  Benjamin  M.  Piatt, 
and  in  his  romantic  home,  in  Logan 
county,  Ohio,  she  was  brought  up  and 
educated. 

The  exceeding  wild  beauty  of  the  coun 
try  where  Judge  Piatt  tiad  made  his  home 
but  a  few  years  after  its  Indian  inhabitants 
had  removed  further  "  towards  the  setting 
sun  "  left  an  impression  upon  her  liie  that 
never  laded  from  it.  During  all  its  changes 
and  vicissitudes  she  turned  back  in 
thought  to  the  primeval  forest,  the  mur 
muring  streams,  the  broad  savannahs  on 
which  her  childish  eyes  so  long  rested  and 
in  all  the  sights  and  sounds  of  nature  she 
found  an  unceasing  interest  and  delight. 

Her  grandmother,  Mrs.  Piatt,  a  Virgin 
ian  by  birth,  and  strong  as  became  a  pio 
neer's  wife,  was  converted  to  Catholicity 
in  the  early  days,  when  the  struggling 
Church  in  Cincinnati  could  boast  of  but 
one  little  building,  and  its  members  were 
but  a  small  Hock  in  a  hostile  community. 
That  sho  might  not  bo  denied  all  the  con-  ' 
solations  of  her  faith,  sho  erected  a  little 
log  chapel  on  her  husband's  broad  do 
main,  which  still  stands,  though  empty 
and  deserted,  an  eloquent  monument  of 
days  gone  by. 

It  was  in  this  humble  edifice  that  the  old 
time  missionary  priests  were  wont  to  cele 
brate  Mass  when  visiting  Judge  1'iatt's 
household,  and  here  on  the  Ud  of  May, 
ltS4N,  Kliziibeih  Hudd  McCullough  was 
married  to  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  a  young 
lawyer  of  Cincinnati.  Tier  life  thereafter 
was  that  of  the  devoted  wife  and  mother, 
giving  all  the  wealth  of  her  mind  and 
heart  to  her  family,  but  not  forgetting  her 
duty  to  C.od  and  her  neighbor.  Gentl-e, 
retiring,  yielding  in  everything  but  that 
which  touched  her  faith  or  her  principles, 
and  then  firm  and  brave  as  the  bravest] 


when  the  storm  of  war  took  her  husband 
from  her  side  for  three  long  years  of  battle 
and  campaign,  she  bore  her  responsibili 
ties  as  became  a  soldier's  wife.  Her  ardent 
patriotism  sustained  his  efforts  and  no 
word  of  complaint  fell  from  her  lips  that 
she  was  left  alone  to  nurse,  protect  and 
educate  her  children.  She  lived  to  see  her 
family  grow  up  around  her  and  to  bear 
the  sorrow  of  many  deaths. 

One  of  her  most  lovely  daughters  was 
lirst  called,  then  her  husband,  then  two 
noble  sons,  one  of  them  giving  up  his  life 
as  a  missionary  priest  in  South  America, 
the  other  ending  a  brief  career  of  unusual 
promise  in  his  profession  of  architecture. 

The  simple  faith  and  dignity  of  her  na 
ture  sustained  her  to  the  last — serene, 
patient,  unselfish.  Hers  was  a  type  of 
mind  tiot  often  developed.  She  was  a 
natural  musician,  and  no  art  could  teach 
the  grace  and  melody  with  which  she 
sang  her  own  songs  to  her  own  music. 
She  was  a  poet  whose  inspiration  came 
from  nature  and  from  nature's  God.  Her 
taste  in  art,  in  literature,  in  all  that  re- 
tines  social  life  was  of  the  purest.  Amidst 
all  her  trials,  her  spir.t  soared  to  ethereal 
heights.  The  old-fashioned  domestic  vir 
tues  found  in  her  a  worthy  exemplar  yet 
she  never  lost  sight  of  the  great  ends  of 
life  in  absorption  in  these  necessary  works 
that  are  but  means.  To  the  very  close  of 
her  days  she  maintained  an  interest  in 
contemporary  events.  She  had  read  in 
her  girlhood  the  best  literature  attainable, 
and  during  all  her  life  her  vigorous  intel 
lect  was  fed  by  constant  reading.  Her 
familiarity  with  modern  history  and  with 
the  great  questions  of  social  and  political 
moment  gave  to  her  opinions  a  justness 
and  truth  that  would  have  been  remark 
able  even  in  a  public  man. 

She  had  known  many  of  the  statesmen 
whose  names  became  famous  in  later  days. 
Her  girlhood  was  spent  in  the  home  of  a 
distinguished  Whig,  but  she  could  recall 
her  father's  going  to  the  polls  to  vote  lor 
Jackson.  Many  of  the  great  men  of  the 
days  immediately  preceding  the  war,  as 
well  as  those  who  attained  distinction  dur 
ing  its  continuance,  were  frequent  visitors 
at  her  grandfather's,  and  subsequently  at 
her  husband's  home.  Her  judgment  of 
their  characters  and  careers  was  keen  and 
discriminating.  She  was  unhesitating  in 
denunciation  of  sham,  whether  political  or 
social,  yet  such  was  her  gentleness  that 
she  never  ollended. 

Hers  was  a  life  sustained  and  carried  on 
by  the  impulse  of  a  living  faith.  Life  was 
but  a  preparation  for  the  hereafter,  but  it 
was  not  to  be  used  lightly  or  despond- 
ingly.  The  full  measure  of  its  opportuni 
ties  must  bo  availed  of,  and  it  mattered 
not  for  the  merit  whether  worldly  success 
crowned  the  ellort.  It  was  the  intention 
that  marked  its  value. 

The  influence  of  such  a  life  cannot  bo 
measured.  The  great  fore;*  of  her  example 
has  sustained  and  is  sustaining  many  a 
struggling  heart.  In  the  fullness  of  time, 
yet  while  all  her  mental  faculties  were  in 
unabated  vigor,  God  has  called  her  to  her 
reward.  Through  the  mist  of  sorrow  for 
the  loss  of  so  dear  a  friend,  so  devoted  a 
mother,  so  noble  a  woman,  her  family  and 
her  friends  may  reverently  thank  His 
goodness  for  her  beautiful  life. 

—Catholic  Standard  and  Tim<\*,  I-'eh   26,  /.xyy. 


COPYRIGHT,  1897 

BY 
WALTER  GEORGE  SMITH 


Ube  l*n(cfeerbocfeer  press,  iftew 


To  THE  COMPANIONS 

OF 

THE  MILITARY  ORDER   OF  THE   LOYAL  LEGION 

OF 

THE  UNITED   STATES 
THIS  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  LIFE 

OF.  THEIR 

FELLOW  SOLDIER 

is  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 

AFTER  a  lapse  of  ten  years  since  the  death  of  my  father, 
I  venture  to  give  this  work  to  the  public. 

I  am  impelled  by  two  thoughts  :  first,  a  filial  desire  to  pay 
tribute  to  his  memory,  and  second  to  add  to  the  literature  of 
the  Civil  War  this  collection  of  his  letters.  The  personal 
consideration  taken  alone  might  possibly  not  constitute  suffi 
cient  ground  for  the  publication,  but  it  has  seemed  to  me, 
that  as  a  contribution  to  the  records  of  the  time,  the  letters 
ought  not  to  be  withheld. 

General  Smith's  career  as  a  soldier  was  a  type  of  that  of 
many  others  whose  impressions  have  been  published,  but  I 
doubt  if  any  collection  of  letters  has  been  made,  descriptive 
of  the  scenes  in  the  theatre  of  war  in  which  he  moved,  so  full 
and  graphic  as  those  written  by  him,  marked  as  they  were 
by  the  frankness  that  characterizes  a  family  correspondence. 
His  judgment  of  events  was  often  inaccurate,  and  his  state 
ments  at  times  doubtless  exaggerated  by  the  excitement  of 
the  moment  ;  but  the  conclusions  he  formed  of  the  leading 
actors  with  whom  he  was  associated  will  be  found  to  have 
been  for  the  most  part  borne  out  by  the  event. 

Interest  in  books  of  this  kind  must  of  necessity  become 
less  and  less  intense  as  later  events  in  the  world's  history 
claim  our  attention.  While  there  are  many  thousands  still 
surviving  who  bore  arms  in  the  Civil  War,  almost  all  of  the 
leaders  have  passed  away,  and  the  veterans  of  every  rank 
are  rapidly  giving  place  to  men  who  know  of  the  great  con 
flict  only  as  a  tradition.  Still,  so  long  as  history  is  read, 
men  will  be  interested  in  the  story  of  this  period  ;  and  the 
names  of  the  great  men  on  both  sides  will  never  be  erased 
from  the  roll  of  fame. 


vi  Preface 

Although  these  letters  do  not  touch  on  the  causes  of  the 
war,  they  do  show  in  graphic  language  the  heroism  of  those 
who  fought,  the  hardships  they  endured,  and  the  tenacity  of 
the  American  people  in  the  support  of  the  fundamental  prin 
ciples  of  free  government. 

I  have  thought  it  wise  to  print  a  few  extracts  from  early 
letters  and  to  continue  the  series  until  after  my  father's  re 
tirement  from  the  consulship  at  Panama,  though  these  par 
ticular  letters  were  not  strictly  within  the  purview  of  the 
work. 

If  I  have  been  mistaken  in  my  estimate  of  the  value  of  this 
work  to  the  public  at  large,  I  feel  confident  at  least  that  I 
shall  give  pleasure  to  many  an  old  soldier  who  will  read  in 
the  description  of  the  adventures  of  his  fellow-soldier  a 
counterpart  of  what  happened  to  himself.  As  he  recalls  the 
memory  of  the  stirring  days  of  his  military  life,  his  patriotism 
and  zeal  for  American  institutions  will  grow  stronger  and 
firmer,  and  his  faith  in  the  permanence  of  a  form  of  govern 
ment  that  could  outlive  such  a  trial  will  gain  new  force. 

WALTER  GEORGE  SMITH. 
PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.  14,  1897. 


CONTENTS 


MEMOIR 

L,ETTERS 

A  STUDY  OF  CHARACTER  . 
INDEX  . 


i 

167 
467 
477 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS 


PAGE 

Frontispiece 


THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH,  {Photogravure) 

ELIZABETH  B.  SMITH,  {Photogravure)          .         .         .     167 

COLONEL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH        .        .        .        .180 

CAMP  DENNISON,    1862. 

COLONEL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH        ....     236 

MEMPHIS,    1862. 

GENERAL  W.  T.  SHERMAN  AND  OFFICERS       .        .     242 

MEMPHIS,    1862. 

MAJOR- GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT  AND  OFFICERS        .    342 
NEW  ORLEANS,  1863. 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH    .        .    378 

WASHINGTON,    1864. 


LIFE 

OF 

THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH 


ABOUT  the  year  1752,  there  came  to  America  frb:&  Ger 
many  a  young  physician,  Doctor  Godfried  Christian 
Schmidt.  He  had  been  educated  at  Ulm,  though  his  native 
place  was  Wolfenbuttel,  a  small  town  in  Brunswick.  It  is  a 
tradition  well  attested  by  relics,  that  he  was  connected  with 
the  army  of  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  in  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  After  that  conflict  was  over,  he  settled  at 
Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  where,  on  the  2yth  of  March, 
1764,  he  married  Hannah  Calef,  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Calef 
of  Boston  and  on  her  mother's  side  descended  from  a  Maine 
family,  she  having  been  a  grand-daughter  of  Dominicus  Jor 
dan,  called  the  "  Indian  Fighter,"  who  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  in  the  neighborhood  of  Casco  Bay.1  Dr.  Schmidt 
attained  great  eminence  in  his  profession,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty  years  on  the  i6th  of  March,  1791.  The  young 
est  of  the  seven  children  of  Dr.  Schmidt  was  George,  born  in 
Boston  in  1782.  In  early  life  this  son  was  bred  to  the  sea, 
and  became  so  proficient  as  a  mariner  that  he  rose  to  the  com 
mand  of  ships  and  made  many  voyages.  In  his  young  man 
hood  perhaps  the  most  important  commission  to  the  master 
of  a  sailing  vessel  was  to  trade  to  the  northwest  coast  of 
America  and  thence  to  China  and  from  China  home  by  way 

1  The  Tre lawny  Papers,  p.  433. 


2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  Europe,— thus  circumnavigating  the  globe.  Captain 
Smith  not  only  made  this  voyage,  but  visited  the  northwest 
coast  of  South  America  and  led  for  many  years  an  adventur 
ous  life.  At  one  time  he  was  taken  by  the  Chinese  and  held 
in  prison  ;  at  another,  by  the  Spanish  settlers  of  South  Amer 
ica,  from  whom  he  escaped  and  made  his  way  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  enduring  many  hardships.  After  re 
tiring  from  the  life  of  a  sailor,  he  was  married  at  Christ 
Church  in  Boston  on  the  3ist  of  January,  1817,  to  Eliza 
Bicker  Walter,  then  in  her  seventeenth  year.  Miss  Wal 
ter  came  of  a  distinguished  family  of  New  England  lineage 
on  both  sides  of  her  house.  Her  father  could  trace  among 
his  lineal  ancestors  the  Lyndes,  father  and  son,  the  first 
arti  second  chief  justices  of  Massachusetts  ;  John  Eliot, 
called  the  '/Apostle  to  the  Indians,"  who  translated  the 
Bi^e  intx?  -their  tongue  ;  the  Rev.  Increase  Mather,  father  of 
the  famous  Cotton  Mather,  and  the  sixth  President  of  Har 
vard  College,  and  by  intermarriage  her  family  were  related 
to  many  others  notable  in  New  England  history.  The  first 
surviving  child  of  this  marriage  was  Thomas  Kilby  Smith, 
born  at  Dorchester  near  Boston  on  the  23d  of  September,  1820. 
His  mother  gave  him  the  name  of  Thomas  Kilby  Jones,  in 
honor  of  her  great  uncle,  a  descendant  on  the  maternal  side 
of  that  family  of  Kilby  whose  name  is  perpetuated  in  Boston 
by  the  well-known  Kilby  Street.  When,  however,  the  son 
thus  baptized  grew  to  man's  estate,  he  discarded  the  name  of 
Jones ' ;  not  from  any  lack  of  respect  to  his  mother's  choice, 

1  Thomas  Kilby  Jones  was  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Kilby,  an  amusing 
account  of  whom  appears  in  a  letter  from  the  late  General  Samuel  J. 
Bridge,  of  December  3,  1860,  to  Mrs.  George  Smith,  as  follows: 

I  have  been  reading  Dealings  with  the  Dead,  by  a  Sexton  of  the 
Old  School,  Iv.  M.  Sargent,  who  you  will  recollect  built  a  house  on 
the  rear  of  R.  G.  Amory's  Elm  Hill,  not  far  from  Uncle  Jones'  seat. 
In  chapter  136,  he  speaks  of  Thos.  Kilby  for  whom  Uncle  Jones  was 
named,  and  in  turn  your  son.  "Thos.  Kilby  was  a  gentleman  of 
education,  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1723,  and  died  in  1770,  and  ac 
cording  to  Pemberton,  published  essays  in  prose  and  verse.  Not  long 
ago  a  gentleman  enquired  of  me  if  I  ever  heard  that  Peter  Faneuil 
had  a  wooden  leg  :  and  related  the  following  amusing  story,  which  he 
received  from  his  collateral  ancestor,  John  Page,  who  graduated  at 


Memoir  3 

or  to  his  distinguished  namesake,  but  because  he  thought 
the  name  of  Kilby  would  be  sufficiently  distinguishing  with 
out  adding  that  of  Jones  to  the  then,  as  now,  too  common 
patronymic  Smith.  For  nine  years  Captain  Smith  and  his 
wife  made  their  residence  in  or  near  Boston.  During  a  por 
tion  of  this  time  he  resided  in  the  ancient  town  of  Quincy 
not  far  from  Boston,  or  at  least  his  family  made  long  visits 
to  relatives  there.  The  widow  of  Dr.  Schmidt  died  in  Bos 
ton  in  1832  at  the  age  of  90  years.  She  made  her  home  in 
an  interesting  house  said  to  be  the  oldest  in  Quincy,  and 
still  standing,  the  comfortable  homestead  of  Mr.  Hull 
Adams  and  his  sister  Elizabeth,  the  children  of  Judge  Sam 
uel  Adams,  the  brother  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  the  son 
of  John  Adams,  the  second  President  of  the  United  States. 
Tradition  tells  of  the  flaxen-haired  child  who  played  in  the 

Harvard  in  1765,  and  died  in  1825,  aged  81.  Thos.  Kilby  was  an 
unthrifty  and  rather  whimsical  gentleman.  Being  without  property 
and  employment,  he  retired  to  Nova  Scotia.  There  he  made  a  will, 
for  his  amusement,  having,  in  reality,  nothing  to  bequeath.  He  left 
liberal  sums  to  a  number  of  religious,  philanthropic,  and  literary  in 
stitutions ;  his  sons  to  a  worthy  clergyman,  as  he  appeared  not  to 
have  any ;  his  body  to  a  surgeon  of  his  acquaintance,  '  excepting  as 
hereinafter  mentioned  '  ;  his  eyes>  which  were  very  good,  to  a  blind 
relative  ;  his  heart  to  an  aged  spinster  ;  and  the  choice  of  his  legs  he 
bequeathed  to  his  friend,  Peter  Faneuil." 

Sargent  says,  "  upon  enquiry  of  the  oldest  surviving  relative  of  Peter 
Faneuil,  I  found  that  nothing  was  known  of  the  wooden  leg.  But  a 
day  or  two  after,  a  highly  respectable  and  aged  citizen,  attracted  by 
the  articles  in  the  Transcript,  informed  me  that  his  father,  born  in 
1727,  told  him  that  he  had  seen  Peter  Faneuil  in  his  garden,  and  that 
on  one  foot  he  wore  a  high-heeled  shoe.  This  probably  gave  occasion 
to  the  considerate  bequest  of  Thomas  Kilby.  The  will,  coming  to 
the  knowledge  of  Peter  Faneuil,  he  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
humor  of  it  that,  probably,  having  a  knowledge  of  the  testator  before, 
he  sent  for  him  and  made  him  his  commercial  agent  at  Canso,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  so  enabled  him  to  live  like  a  gentleman  all  the  rest  of  his 
life."  The  story  is  worth  keeping  in  the  family,  which  induces  me  to 
send  it  to  you.  Uncle  Jones  inherited  much  of  Tom  Kilby's  humor. 
You  will  recollect  that  Uncle  Jones  often  spoke  of  his  relatives  in 
Nova  Scotia,  but  how  he  came  to  be  named  for  Thos.  Kilby  I  never 
understood.  If  the  dear  old  man  was  alive  how  he  would  laugh  at 
this  story. 


4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

garden  or  rode  his  pony  about  Constitution  Hill  at  the  foot 
of  which  the  little  homestead  stands  ;  and  there  in  later 
life  when  the  child  had  become  a  war-worn  soldier  he  was 
wont  occasionally  to  return  and  renew  the  inspirations  of 
his  earlier  days. ' 

1  In  a  letter  to  the  late  George  D.  Budd,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
had  written  for  The  Penn.  Monthly  a  review  of  the  then  recently 
published  life  of  John  Adams,  the  subject  of  this  narrative  speaks  of 
his  relations  with  the  Adams  family  as  follows  : 

"Your  critique  upon  the  life  of  John  Adams,  begun  by  his  son, 
completed  by  his  grandson,  I  have  read  with  a  great  interest  that  you 
will  readily  appreciate  when  I  tell  you  that  the  earliest  years  of  my 
life  were  closely  associated  with  the  society  that  surrounded  and  was 
identified  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  family  illustrated  through 
four  generations  by  the  names  of  John  Adams,  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  the  younger,  the 
last,  but  not  least  of  the  quartet,  a  lawyer,  orator,  statesman,  publicist. 
Three  days  before  the  death  of  John  Adams,  I  sat  upon  his  knee  under 
the  shade  of  the  branching  oaks  his  own  hand  had  raised  from  the 
acorn.  The  most  impressive  scene  of  my  childhood  was  the  burial 
of  his  body.  The  funeral  cortege  I  remember  as  an  event  of  yester 
day,  my  father  lifting  me  in  his  arms  to  view  the  face  of  the  dead  as 
it  lay  coffined  in  the  hearse.  John  Quincy  Adams  I  knew  as  a  farmer 
better  than  a  statesman,  though  I  have  heard  him  in  his  happiest 
vein  when  old  enough  to  appreciate  his  powers.  But  I  have  seen  him 
more  frequently  in  his  shirt  sleeves  driving  behind  his  oxen  or  coming 
from  the  marshes  with  his  gun  on  his  shoulder,  or  returning  from  his 
morning  bath  in  the  ocean.  The  frequent  recipient  of  that  sort  of 
hospitality  most  grateful  to  a  child  from  Mrs.  Adams,  for  I  was  free 
of  the  house,  I  can  bear  ample  testimony  to  her  thorough  accomplish 
ment  in  that  art  so  often  neglected  by  the  ladies  of  the  period  who 
cannot  vie  with  her  genius  for  conversation,  literature,  and  fascina 
tion  in  the  drawing-room." 

The  family  of  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  were  descended  on  his  mother's 
side  from  the  family  of  Thomas  Boylston,  and  were  therefore  dis 
tantly  related  to  the  Adams  family.  John  Adams,  the  second  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  was  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Boylston,  his 
granddaughter  Susannah  having  married  John  Adams,  the  father  of 
the  statesman.  Susannah  Boylston  was  the  daughter  of  Peter,  a  son 
of  Thomas.  Rebecca,  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Boylston,  married 
William  Abbot,  of  Brookline.  Their  daughter  Rebecca  married  Rev. 
Nehemiah  Walter,  whose  great-granddaughter  was  the  mother  of 
Thomas  Kilby  Smith.  A  relationship  so  distant  was  not  known  to 
him,  but  his  reference  to  this  family  makes  it  of  interest  in  this  con 
nection. 


Memoir  5 

Failing  in  business  and  attracted  by  what  he  had  heard  of 
the  rising  importance  of  the  then  metropolis  of  the  West, 
Captain  Smith  removed  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  about  the  year 
1829.  After  some  vicissitudes  he  finally  made  his  home  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  city,  in  Coleraine  Township,  Hamil 
ton  County.  Before  his  removal  from  Boston  another  son 
was  born,  and  a  large  family  grew  up  in  the  Ohio  home,  there 
being  in  all  three  sons  and  two  daughters  surviving  to  adult 
age.  Seventy  years  ago,  it  is  needless  to  say,  the  civilization 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  was  far  less  perfect  than  at  this  date  when 
it  teems  with  a  busy  and  prosperous  population.  The  virgin 
forests  still  covered  the  hills  in  many  places  ;  the  manner 
of  living  was  simple  ;  there  was  little  wealth,  and  the  de 
scendants  of  the  pioneers  and  the  survivors  of  those  hardy 
adventurers  themselves,  had  scarcely  perfected  the  foun 
dations  of  the  young  commonwealth.  Manual  labor  was 
not  held  in  disrepute,  and  it  was  a  lifelong  boast  of  the 
eldest  son  of  George  Smith  that  he  had  gained  health  and 
strength  and  skill  by  battling  with  the  adverse  forces  of 
nature.  There  was  at  that  time,  however,  no  lack  of  intel 
lectual  activity  in  Cincinnati  :  many  strong  and  able  men  in 
various  walks  of  life  had  cast  their  lot  in  that  community, 
and  opportunities  were  not  wanting  for  education,  both 
academic  and  professional,  to  ambitious  youth.  As  he  grew 
in  years,  young  Smith  developed  an  active  mind  and  a  well- 
nigh  perfect  physique.  He  had  inherited  from  his  German 
ancestors  the  ruddy  complexion  and  the  blonde  type  that  dis 
tinguishes  them  in  so  eminent  a  degree.  Proud  of  his  physi 
cal  prowess,  he  was  a  swift  runner,  a  splendid  swimmer,  and 
an  accomplished  horseman.  One  of  his  favorite  stories  was 
the  description  of  a  race  between  himself  and  some  com 
panions  of  twenty-five  miles  from  a  neighboring  town  to  the 
city  of  Cincinnati,  which  he  had  made  in  an  incredibly  short 
space  of  time.  It  is  said  that  he  swam  the  Ohio  River  with 
his  clothes  on,  and  was  daunted  by  no  obstacle  in  boyish 
feats  of  strength.  One  of  the  notable  institutions  in  Cincin 
nati  at  that  early  date  was  the  old  Woodward  High  School, 
and  there  he  was  a  pupil  with  other  lads,  many  of  whom  be 
came  distinguished  in  later  life  :  such  men  as  Stanley  Mat- 


6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

thews,  Geo.  H.  Pendleton,  John  B.  Groesbeck,  George  E. 
Pugh,  and  Daniel  Drake  Henrie.  Subsequently,  Ormsby 
M.  Mitchel  came  to  Cincinnati,  fresh  from  his  studies 
at  West  Point  and  his  military  training  in  the  army.  He 
set  up  a  military  school,  and  his  friendship  for  Captain 
George  Smith  led  him  to  take  a  special  interest  in  Thomas 
Kilby,  who  became  one  of  his  favorite  pupils.  From  Mitchel 
the  youth  received  a  training  that  in  future  life  was  of  great 
advantage  to  him.  His  attention  was  directed  to  the  science 
and  practice  of  civil  engineering,  and  as  Mitchel  himself  was 
called  upon  from  that  time  to  make  surveys,  he  appointed 
him  upon  his  staff  of  assistants.  Together  they  made  the 
preliminary  surveys  for  the  first  railroad  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  and  through  Mitchel 's  influence  young  Smith  was 
attached  to  an  expedition  in  Wisconsin  in  1838,  where  he 
had  much  experience  of  border  life.  After  returning  from 
that  expedition,  being  then  in  his  nineteenth  year,  the  young 
engineer  made  a  visit  to  his  parents'  relatives  in  Boston, 
where  he  was  received  with  cordial  admiration.  On  his  re 
turn  after  a  brief  sojourn  in  his  parents'  home,  he  determined 
to  adopt  the  legal  profession,  and  notwithstanding  the  en 
treaties  of  his  father's  friends  who  looked  upon  the  relation 
ship  as  likely  to  shadow  his  future  success,  he  was  placed  in 
the  law  office  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  who  was  then  in  the  suc 
cessful  practice  of  his  profession  in  partnership  with  Flamen 
Ball.  It  was  owing  to  no  personal  defect  in  the  character  or 
the  professional  standing  of  the  future  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  that  Captain  Smith's  friends  urged  him  not  to 
put  his  son  under  such  preceptorship,  but  because  of  the  un 
popularity  of  Mr.  Chase  on  political  grounds.  At  that  time, 
the  feeling  in  Ohio  in  opposition  to  interference  with  slavery 
was  very  strong,  yet  Salmon  P.  Chase  was  an  ardent  and 
uncompromising  opponent  of  slavery,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
denounce  it  both  publicly  and  privately.1 

1  In  after  years,  when  the  burning  questions  that  divided  men  in 
those  days  had  been  settled,  and  the  small  minority  had  been  changed 
into  an  overwhelming  and  triumphant  majority,  and  the  great  Chief 
Justice  had  passed  to  his  reward,  his  remains  were  transferred  to  their 
present  resting-place  in  Spring  Grove  Cemetery  near  Cincinnati.  In 
the  course  of  an  eloquent  oration  pronounced  by  his  friend,  the  Hon- 


Memoir  7 

It  was  not  because  ot  any  special  sympathy  with  the  aboli 
tionists,  probably,  that  Captain  Smith  determined  to  place 
his  son  under  the  preceptorship  of  Mr.  Chase  ;  but  having 
determined  that  he  possessed  the  qualifications,  and  knowing 
the  nobility  of  his  character,  he  was  not  deterred  by  his  un 
popularity.  In  the  office  of  Messrs.  Chase  &  Ball,  the  usual 
course  of  law  study  was  pursued  by  the  young  man  until,  in 
the  year  1846,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Hamilton 
County.  After  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Smith  re 
mained  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Chase  &  Ball  for  a  number 
of  years,  engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  his  profession. 
He  was,  however,  of  a  restless  temperament,  and  by  nature 
averse  to  a  sedentary  life.  He  would  often  go  to  the  woods 
and  fields  on  hunting  expeditions,  of  which  he  was  extremely 
fond.  On  one  occasion  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  an 
other  young  lawyer,  afterwards  known  to  fame  as  Donn 
Piatt,  to  accompany  him  to  his  father's  home  in  Logan 
County.  Donn  Piatt  was  a  son  of  Judge  Benjamin  M.  Piatt, 
one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  the  West.  After  the  usual 
vicissitudes  of  a  pioneer's  life  in  Illinois  and  Kentucky, 
Judge  Piatt  had  fixed  his  home  at  a  beautiful  and  romantic 
spot  near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  called 
* '  Mac-o-cheek, ' '  after  the  name  of  an  Indian  tribe,  who  but 
a  few  years  before  had  lived  there.  This  name  in  the  Indian 
vernacular,  is  said  to  mean  ' '  smiling  valley, ' '  and  the  name 
was  surely  appropriate,  for  its  aspect  was  so  beautiful,  ro- 

orable  George  Hoadly,  on  that  occasion,  there  occurs  the  following 
passage  : 

"  What  made  him  content  to  be  the  best  hated  man  in  Cincinnati ; 
to  bear  opprobrium,  to  stand  (as  he  once  did)  by  the  side  of  General 
Thomas  Kilby  Smith  and  meet  volleys  of  stale  eggs,  while  he  calmly 
continued  his  appeal  for  justice  to  the  slave?  He  was  not  helped  in 
his  work  by  malice,  or  hatred,  or  spite, — the  stimulus  of  little,  mean 
men.  When  I  made  his  acquaintance  his  most  intimate  friend  was  a 
Kentucky  slave  owner.  He  made  war  on  the  system,  not  the  man  ; 
and  knowing  full  well  that  any  life,  his  own  even,  caught  within  the 
folds  of  slavery,  must  submit  to  the  crushing  of  its  free  thought,  and 
its  errors  be  largely,  if  not  wholly,  excused  by  the  impossibility  of 
escaping  the  control  of  circumstance,  education,  interests,  surround 
ings.  What  helped  him,— yes,  made  him, — was  this:  he  walked 
with  God." 


8  Thomas  Kiiby  Smith 

mantic  and  serene  as  to  suggest  the  happiest  thoughts. 
Through  it  flowed  a  little  stream  of  the  same  name,  mean 
dering  through  woods  and  across  broad  prairies  until  it  lost 
itself  in  the  Mad  River  near  the  point  where  the  town  of 
West  Liberty  now  stands.  To  this  favorite  spot  where  Judge 
Piatt  had  built  himself  a  plain  but  substantial  pioneer's  house 
of  hewn  logs,  situated  upon  a  rising  knoll  and  facing  across 
the  savannas  towards  the  west,  the  young  man  came  in  the 
autumn  of  1847.  It  can  be  well  imagined  that  the  advent 
of  the  handsome  young  stranger  accompanied  by  his  beauti 
ful  white  pointer  dog  made  some  sensation  in  the  Judge's 
family,  and  not  the  least  of  those  affected  by  it  was  his 
granddaughter  Elizabeth  Budd  McCullough,  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  William  Budd  McCullough  of  Asbury,  Warren  County, 
New  Jersey,1  who  had  been  taken  in  infancy  after  her 
mother's  death  to  live  amid  those  romantic  scenes.  The  im 
pressions  made  upon  her  were  reciprocated  in  the  heart  of  the 
visitor.  After  another  year  Mr.  Smith  returned  again  to  the 
"  smiling  valley,"  and  found  his  bride  in  Miss  McCullough. 
They  were  married  on  the  2d  of  May,  1848,  in  the  old  log 
church  which  had  been  erected  by  Mrs.  Piatt  not  far  from 
the  family  residence,  by  the  Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  D.D., 
then  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Cincinnati. 
Captain  George  Smith  and  his  wife  were  Protestants,  the  men 
of  the  Walter  family,  from  which  the  latter  had  sprung,  being 
almost  in  an  hereditary  line  Church  of  England  or  Congre- 
gationalist  ministers.  The  Piatts  were  also  originally  of  the 
strongest  Protestant  stock,  being  an  old  French  Huguenot 
family;  but  the  Judge's  wife  had  become  a  convert  to  Cathol 
icism,  and  had  educated  her  family  in  that  faith.  The  usual 
pledges  having  been  given  by  Mr.  Smith,  the  good  Bishop 

1  Dr.  McCullough  was  a  son  of  Col.  William  McCullough,  a  veteran 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 
Warren  County,  New  Jersey,  and  a  great  landed  proprietor  at  Asbury. 
Colonel  McCullough  was  an  early  convert  to  Methodism,  and  his  son 
a  lifelong  member  of  that  denomination.  The  early  death  of  his 
young  wife  made  the  doctor  consent  to  the  education  and  practical 
adoption  of  his  two  daughters  by  their  grandmother  ;  but  though 
living  apart  from  them  during  all  his  life,  his  affection  remained 
undiminished  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  California  in  1868. 


Memoir  9 

did  not  hesitate  to  perform  the  ceremony.  Mrs.  Smith  was 
born  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1827.  She  had  inherited  from 
both  parents  a  beauty  of  distinctively  brunette  type.  She 
had  been  a  delicate  girl,  but  was  gifted  with  an  unusually 
intelligent  mind.  Her  life  in  the  quiet  seclusion  of  the 
country  had  afforded  her  opportunities  for  the  development 
of  latent  tastes  in  poetry  and  music,  which  made  her  most 
attractive.  With  her  young  sister  Arabella,  who  died  in 
early  youth,  she  was  already  recognized  in  her  family  circle, 
as  having  graces  not  often  combined,  with  feelings  sensitive 
to  all  that  was  beautiful  in  nature  or  art.  She  gave  her 
hand  with  romantic  devotion  to  her  young  lover,  and  during 
his  varied  career  she  was  ever  devoted  to  his  best  interests 
and  those  of  her  children.  The  quiet  influence  of  her  well- 
nigh  perfect  life  is  their  best  heritage,  her  teaching  their 
earliest  instruction  in  the  way  of  truth  and  unselfish  service 
towards  God  and  man. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Smith  continued  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Cincinnati  with  varying  success  until  1853, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  a  responsible  position  in  the 
department  of  the  Postmaster- General  at  Washington.  In 
politics  he  was  what  was  known  in  those  days  as  a  ' '  Free 
Soil  Democrat,"  and  attained  sufficient  prominence  in  his 
party  to  merit  recognition.  At  that  time  Franklin  Pierce  was 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  James  Campbell  of  Phila 
delphia,  Postmaster- General.  A  warm  friendship  sprang  up 
between  the  President,  Judge  Campbell  and  the  young  man 
which  was  maintained  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 
He  made  his  residence  in  Washington  until  the  year  1856, 
when,  towrards  the  close  of  the  Pierce  administration,  he  was 
honored  by  the  appointment  of  United  States  Marshal  for 
the  Southern  District  of  Ohio.  Resigning  his  position  in  the 
Postmaster-General's  Department,  he  removed  his  family 
back  to  Cincinnati,  and  proceeded  to  familiarize  himself  with 
the  duties  of  his  new  position.  But  the  dominant  forces  of 
Ohio  politics  during  the  administration  of  President  Buchanan 
were  not  in  accord  with  his  views  and  his  appointment  failed 
of  confirmation  in  the  Senate  ;  so  that  he  found  himself  in 
the  position  of  so  many  who  have  relied  upon  the  Govern- 


io  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ment's  service  as  a  means  of  livelihood,  suddenly  out  of  office 
with  the  responsibility  of  a  young  and  growing  family,  and 
his  professional  life  marred  by  the  years  lost  as  a  salaried 
official.  Soon  afterwards,  however,  he  was  appointed  Deputy 
Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Hamilton  County,  and  devoted  himself 
to  the  duties  of  that  office  for  the  next  four  years.  His  love 
of  excitement  and  warm  interest  in  public  affairs  which 
seemed  to  be  almost  a  part  of  his  nature,  prevented  him  from 
becoming  merely  a  routine  official.  He  had  the  friendship 
and  confidence,  young  as  he  was,  of  many  of  the  most  distin 
guished  and  successful  statesmen  and  politicians  of  that  day. 
He  had  served  on  the  National  Democratic  Committee  during 
a  portion  of  President  Pierce' s  administration,  and  found  his 
relaxation  to  a  great  extent  in  the  excitement  attendant 
upon  public  life.  He  had  formed  the  personal  friendship 
and  entertained  the  highest  admiration  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  at  that  time  Senator  from  Illinois,  and  as  the 
gathering  clouds  portended  the  conflict  that  culminated  in 
the  disruption  of  the  Democratic  Party  in  1860,  he  took  his 
stand  with  Douglas  and  his  associates.  After  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  inauguration  in  the  Spring  of  1861, 
his  mind  was  made  up,  as  was  that  of  his  great  political  leader, 
to  support  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  sinking  all  minor 
differences  in  the  determination  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
the  Federal  Union. 

On  the  ist  of  June,  1861,  he  went  to  Washington  to  offer 
his  services  to  the  Government  as  a  soldier.  While  he  was 
in  Washington  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run  was  fought,  and  he 
witnessed  the  scenes  of  confusion  and  dismay  subsequent  to 
that  discouraging  conflict.  Returning,  he  paid  a  visit  to  his 
venerable  mother,  then  living  in  New  York,  and  while 
there  made  some  further  study  of  the  military  situation.  On 
his  return  to  Cincinnati  he  found  that  his  wife's  uncle, 
Abram  S.  Piatt,  had  been  commissioned  a  colonel  of  volun 
teers  and  had  undertaken  the  task  of  recruiting  three  regi 
ments  at  Camp  Dennison  near  Cincinnati  ;  but  before  his 
purpose  was  attained  he  had  been  ordered  to  the  field  with 
his  own  command,  the  3yth  Regiment  of  Volunteer  Infantry. 
This  left  a  few  hundred  men  recruited  for  the  54th  Ohio 


Memoir  1 1 

Volunteer  Infantry  without  a  commanding  officer,  and 
through  the  influence  of  Senator  Chase,  his  old  preceptor  in 
the  law,  and  Governor  Dennison,  Mr.  Smith  received  the 
commission  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  54th  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry  on  the  gth  of  September,  1861.  He  went  at  once 
to  his  place  of  duty.  Excepting  the  education  he  had  re 
ceived  more  than  twenty  years  before  from  Professor  Mitchel, 
he  had  nothing  but  his  instincts  and  such  opportunities  as 
the  busy  life  into  which  he  had  plunged  permitted,  to  fit 
himself  for  the  command.  His  courage  and  hope  were  high, 
but  he  had  some  doubt  as  to  his  ability  to  recruit  and 
organize  his  regiment  to  its  full  strength  and  drill  it  for 
active  duty.  He  lost  no  time,  however,  in  hesitation,  but 
turned  his  back  upon  the  pursuits  of  civil  life  and  leaving 
his  young  and  delicate  wife  to  direct  the  fortunes  of  herself 
and  five  children,  one  but  an  infant  in  arms,  he  went  to  his 
patriotic  work  with  the  same  spirit  of  zeal  and  hope  that 
distinguished  so  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  his  fellow- 
soldiers  in  those  memorable  days.  On  the  3ist  of  October, 
1 86 1,  he  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
as  Colonel  of  his  regiment. 

The  war  had  now  begun  in  real  earnest.  The  shock  and 
surprise  of  the  defeat  of  the  Union  Army  at  Bull  Run  had 
served  the  valuable  purpose  of  awakening  the  North  and 
West  to  a  full  realization  of  the  determination  of  the  South 
ern  leaders  to  disrupt  the  Union  and  found  a  new  confederacy 
whose  corner  stone  would  be  human  slavery.  The  lusty 
youth  of  Ohio  needed  but  little  encouragement  to  rally  about 
the  standards  that  were  set  up  in  different  parts  of  the  State, 
and  the  54th  Regiment,  recruited  for  the  most  part  from  the 
country  districts,  gradually  found  its  ranks  filling,  and  under 
the  energetic  care  of  its  colonel,  became  a  well- disciplined  body 
of  men.  The  uniform  of  the  Zouaves  was  adopted,  and  daily 
upon  the  level  plains  upon  which  Camp  Dennison  was 
pitched,  the  regiment  was  drilled  in  the  manual  of  arms. 
The  writer  can  recall  his  experience  as  a  child  while  visiting 
at  the  Camp,  the  soldierly  appearance  of  the  long  line  as  it 
stood  in  front  of  his  father,  and  hear  in  imagination  the  tones 
of  his  sonorous  voice  as  he  gave  the  commands.  He  can  see 


!  2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  long  line  break  into  companies  and  remember  his  feeling 
of  elation  as  he  led  the  regiment  back  to  its  quarters  when 
the  afternoon  drill  had  closed.  During  all  of  the  autumn  of 
1861,  and  until  the  i6th  of  February,  1862,  Colonel  Smith 
devoted  himself  to  the  duties  of  preparation  for  the  trials 
that  were  to  follow.  Mounted  upon  a  magnificent  chestnut 
stallion,  he  rode  about  the  Camp  during  the  mornings,  and 
until  late  in  the  day  was  occupied  with  the  arduous  duties 
of  his  new  responsibility. 

At  last  orders  came  to  take  the  field  ;  the  54th  was  directed 
to  proceed  to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  and  report  to  Major- 
General  Halleck  at  St.  Louis  by  telegraph.  Promptly  and 
without  confusion,  the  command  was  transported  to  Cincin 
nati  and  placed  on  transport  steamboats.  On  the  igth  of 
February,  1862,  the  Colonel  reported  to  Brig. -Gen.  W.  T. 
Sherman,  then  commanding  at  Paducah,  and  by  his  orders 
was  assigned  to  the  2d  Brigade  of  the  Fifth  Division,  Col. 
David  Stuart  of  the  55th  Illinois  Infantry  commanding.  At 
that  time  General  Sherman  was  a  brigadier-general  of  volun 
teers,  and  Colonel  of  the  I3th  Infantry  of  the  Regular  Army. 
The  little  town  of  Paducah  is  situated  on  the  Ohio  River. 
The  5th  Division  was  made  up  of  four  brigades,  and  each 
brigade  composed  of  three  regiments.  This  was  the  first 
large  command  exercised  by  General  Sherman,  and  as  the 
soldiers  composing  it  afterwards  became  veterans  and  served 
with  great  distinction,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  give  the  com 
position  and  names  of  the  commanding  officers.  They  were 
almost  all  more  or  less  distinguished  in  the  old  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  an  organization  that  will  go  down  to  history  with 
a  record  untarnished  and  illustrious.  The  first  brigade  con 
sisted  of  the  6th  Iowa,  Col.  J.  A.  McDowell  ;  the  4oth  Illi 
nois,  Col.  Stephen  G.  Hicks  ;  the  46th  Ohio,  Col.  Thomas 
Worthington,  and  the  Morton  Battery,  Captain  Frederick 
Behr.  The  second  brigade  :  the  55th  Illinois,  Col.  David 
Stuart  ;  the  54th  Ohio,  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  and  the 
yist  Ohio,  Col.  Rodney  Mason.  The  third  brigade  :  the 
77th  Ohio,  Col.  Jesse  Hildebrand  ;  the  53d  Ohio,  Col.  J.  J. 
Appier,  and  the  57th  Ohio,  Col.  William  Mungen.  The 
fourth  brigade  :  the  72d  Ohio,  Col.  R.  P.  Buckland  ;  the 


Memoir  1 3 

48th  Ohio,  Col.  Peter  J.  Sullivan  ;  and  the  yoth  Ohio,  Col. 
J.  R.  Cockerill. 

Of  these  regiments  almost  all,  both  officers  and  men,  were 
without  actual  military  experience.  In  his  report  of  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  General  Sherman  says  : 

"  My  division  was  made  up  of  regiments  perfectly  new, 
nearly  all  having  received  their  muskets  for  the  first  time  at 
Paducah.  None  of  them  had  ever  been  under  fire  or  beheld 
heavy  columns  of  enemy  bearing  down  on  them.  The  divi 
sion  embarked  on  steamboats  on  March  8th  and  proceeded 
down  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Tennessee  and  up  that  stream 
arriving  at  Fort  Henry  March  gth,  and  at  Savannah,  Ten 
nessee,  March  nth." 

On  the  1 4th,  General  Sherman  disembarked  his  command 
at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Creek  on  the  Tennessee  River  and 
sent  cavalry  to  destroy  the  Charleston  and  Memphis  Rail 
road  ;  but  the  heavy  rains  had  so  swollen  the  streams  that 
the  country  was  impassable.  On  the  i6th,  the  command 
dropped  down  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  disembarked,  and 
again  attempted  the  destruction  of  the  railroad,  cavalry  en 
countering  a  force  which  was  routed,  but  it  failed  in  its 
undertaking,  and  on  the  iQth  of  March  the  division  went 
into  camp  on  ground  extending  from  Purdy  to  the  Hamburg 
Road,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Landing. 

The  history  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh  is  one  that  has  provoked 
no  little  controversy.  A  glance  at  the  map  of  the  battlefield 
shows  that  it  was  enclosed  by  the  Tennessee  River  at  the  rear, 
a  little  stream  called  Snake  Creek  at  the  right,  flowing  into 
the  Tennessee  River,  and  I^ick  Creek  on  the  left,  flowing  into 
the  same  river.  The  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  of  which  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  division  was  a  part,  was  composed  of  six 
separate  divisions,  all  under  command  of  Major-Gen.  U.  S. 
Grant.  After  making  a  reconnaisance  in  force  towards  Pea 
Ridge,  ten  miles  towards  Corinth,  on  the  24th  of  March,  the 
troops  lay  in  camp  without  event  of  special  moment  until  the 
6th  of  April  when  the  great  battle  began.  The  army  of  the 
Tennessee  mustered  nearly  forty-five  thousand  men,  and  as 
they  have  been  described  by  an  eye-witness,  they  ' '  mounted 
guard  daily,  devoured  their  rations  and  slept  in  peace.  .  .  . 


!4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

All  was  security  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  old  church  and 
the  nodding  grasses  that  margined  the  streams  hard  by.  No 
breastwork  faced  toward  the  foe  ;  no  rifle-pit  told  the  story 
of  an  army  alert,  active,  and  conscious.  .  .  .  Vernal 
days  shed  languor  over  musketeer  and  cannoneer." 

At  Corinth,  a  commercial  centre  of  considerable  importance 
situated  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  a  few  days  march  from 
Pittsburg  Landing,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnson  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  Confederate  Army  of  the  Mississippi.  He  had 
formed  the  plan  of  concentrating  every  available  soldier  of 
the  Confederacy  and  by  sudden  marches  falling  upon  Grant's 
army  at  Pittsburg  Landing  and  crushing  it  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  which  was  making  its  way  steadily 
to  form  a  junction  with  Grant.  Johnson  summoned  his 
troops  from  all  parts  of  the  South,  and  on  the  2d  of  April 
issued  the  following  order  : 

' '  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Mississippi  : 

' '  I  have  put  you  in  motion  to  offer  battle  to  the  invaders 
of  your  country.  With  the  resolution  and  disciplined  valor 
becoming  men  fighting,  as  you  are,  for  all  worth  living  or 
dying  for,  you  can  but  march  to  a  decisive  victory  over  the 
agrarian  mercenaries  sent  to  subjugate  and  despoil  you  of 
your  liberties,  property,  and  honor.  Remember  the  precious 
stake  involved  ;  remember  the  dependence  of  your  mothers, 
your  wives,  your  sisters,  and  your  children  on  the  result  ; 
remember  the  fair,  broad,  abounding  land,  the  happy  homes 
and  ties  that  will  be  desolated  by  defeat. 

'  The  eyes  and  hopes  of  eight  millions  of  people  rest  upon 
you.  You  are  expected  to  show  yourselves  worthy  of  your 
race  and  lineage  ;  worthy  of  the  women  of  the  South,  whose 
noble  devotion  in  this  war  has  never  been  exceeded  in  any 
time.  With  such  incentives  to  brave  deeds  and  with  the 
trust  that  God  is  with  us,  your  general  will  lead  you  confi 
dently  to  the  combat,  assured  of  success."  * 

Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  have  been  criticised  with  un 
sparing  severity  because  they  made  no  apparent  preparation 
for  the  attack  that  was  impending.  It  will  be  for  military 

1  Col.  John  A.  Cockerill,    The  Surprise  at  Shiloh. 
1  War  Records,  vol.  x.,  series  i,  part  ii.,  p.  233. 


Memoir  1 5 

critics  to  say  whether  or  not  their  conduct  in  this  respect  was 
open  to  censure.  How  many  mistakes  have  been  made  by 
successful  generals  as  well  as  men  in  every  profession,  history 
does  not  always  tell.  But  certain  it  is,  that  the  commanders 
of  troops  on  both  sides  during  the  American  Civil  War  learned 
much  from  experience  as  that  great  conflict  progressed,  and 
it  may  well  have  been  that  in  later  years  different  dispositions 
would  have  been  made.  General  Sherman  himself  has  said  : 
"  For  days  we  knew  the  enemy  was  in  our  front,  but  the 
nature  of  the  ground  and  his  superior  strength  and  cavalry 
prevented  us  from  breaking  through  the  veil  of  their  approach 
to  ascertain  their  true  strength  and  purpose.  But  as  soldiers 
we  were  prepared  at  all  times  to  receive  an  attack,  and  even 
to  make  one  if  circumstances  warranted  it.  On  that  morning 
our  pickets  had  been  driven  in,  and  our  main  guard  was 
forced  back  to  the  small  valley  in  our  front.  All  our  regi 
ments  of  infantry,  battalions  of  artillery,  and  squadrons  of 
cavalry  were  prepared.  I  myself,  their  commander,  was 
fully  prepared,  right  along  the  line  of  this  very  regiment 
(the  57th  Ohio,  Colonel  Mungen)  and  so  was  in  position  in 
front  of  their  camp  and  looking  to  a  cause-way  across  the 
small  creek  by  which  the  enemy  was  expected  to  approach. 
.  .  .  It  is  simply  ridiculous  to  talk  about  a  surprise. ' '  l 

In  a  letter  of  General  Halleck  to  Secretary  Stanton,  under 
date  of  June  15,  i864,a  the  former  states  : 

"  It  is  not  my  object  in  this  communication  to  offer  any 
comments  on  the  battle  beyond  the  remark  that  the  impres 
sion  which  at  one  time  seemed  to  have  been  received  by  this 
department, — that  our  forces  were  surprised  on  the  morning 
of  the  6th,  is  entirely  erroneous.  I  am  satisfied  from  a  pa 
tient  and  careful  inquiry  and  investigation  that  all  our  troops 
were  notified  of  the  enemy's  approach  some  time  before  the 
battle  commenced. ' '  And  General  McPherson  has  said  3  : 
' '  It  was  well  known  the  enemy  was  approaching  our  lines 
and  there  had  been  more  or  less  skirmishing  for  three  days 
preceding  the  battle." 

1  Letter  to  Hon.  B.  Stanton  of  June  10,  1862. 

2  War  Records,  vol.  x.,  part,  i.,  series  i.,  p.  99. 
'Ibid.,  p.  181. 


1 6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

History  has  recorded  how  Sidney  Johnson  fell  upon  the 
Union  lines  in  the  early  morning  of  Sunday  the  6th  of  April, 
1862  ;  how  the  fiery  legions  of  the  South  hurled  themselves 
through  the  underbrush  and  into  the  very  camps  of  the  Union 
army;  how  the  new  and  but  partially  disciplined  troops  of 
the  West  and  Northwest  met  the  shock  ;  how  some  thou 
sands  of  stragglers,  losing  courage,  fled  from  the  field  crying 
all  was  lost,  and  betook  themselves  to  the  Banding  where 
they  huddled  under  the  protection  of  the  gunboats  on  the 
Tennessee  River  close  to  Pittsburg  Banding,  where  the 
Lexington  and  Tyler,  commanded  by  Captains  Gwinn  and 
Shirk,  U.  S.  N.,  were  stationed  ;  how  the  commanding  gen 
eral,  Grant,  took  his  departure  from  Savannah,  and  hastened 
to  the  field,  where  he  arrived  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  how  through  all  that  terrible  day,  the  Union  army, 
fighting  inch  by  inch,  gradually  gave  way  before  the  on 
slaught  of  the  enemy.  But  it  is  with  the  conduct  of  the 
Second  Brigade  of  the  First  Division  that  this  narrative  is 
especially  concerned.  In  order  to  understand  the  operations 
of  this  command,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  between  the 
Union  lines  and  those  of  the  enemy  was  a  dense  forest  bor 
dered  by  ravines.  Sherman's  division  was  not  large  enough 
to  occupy  the  whole  line  and  he  placed  the  First,  Third  and 
Fourth  Brigades  on  his  right,  and  the  Second  Brigade  on  the 
extreme  left,  and  in  this  position  they  were  on  Sunday  morn 
ing.  The  interval  between  the  Second  and  Third  Brigades 
was  occupied  by  the  division  of  Gen.  B.  M.  Prentiss.  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  division  was  stationed  to  the  right  of  the 
Union  line  ;  toward  the  left  was  that  of  McClernand,  and 
towards  his  left  was  that  of  Prentiss  ;  to  the  rear  of  Prentiss 
was  the  division  of  Hurlbut,  and  to  his  right  that  of  Gen.  C. 
F.  Smith,  then  commanded  by  Gen.  W.  H.  1^.  Wallace, 
owing  to  the  severe  illness  of  General  Smith  which  subse 
quently  terminated  fatally.  During  all  that  long  fight  on 
Sunday  this  small  command  had  to  make  its  own  battle,  and, 
as  the  conflict  progressed,  its  tenacity  of  purpose  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  safety  of  the  whole  army.  Had  it 
taken  panic  or  made  a  less  stubborn  fight,  the  columns  of 
the  enemy  would  have  flanked  the  army  ;  the  enemy  would 


Memoir  1 7 

perhaps  have  reached  Pittsburg  Landing,  thus  gaining  the 
rear  of  the  entire  Union  force,  and  perhaps  overwhelming  it 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio.  The  story  of  its 
resistance  may  be  found  in  General  Stuart's  report.  He  de 
scribes  how  the  conflict  began  at  7.30  in  the  morning  ;  how 
he  made  his  dispositions,  and,  notwithstanding  the  flight 
of  the  largest  portion  of  the  yist  Regiment,  with  the  small 
remainder  of  men  in  his  command,  not  to  exceed  eight  hun 
dred,  of  the  55th  Illinois,  under  command  of  Lieut. -Col. 
Oscar  Malmborg,  and  the  54th  Ohio,  he  held  his  own  until 
his  ammunition  was  exhausted  ;  then  gradually  and  in  good 
order  he  fell  back  towards  the  Landing  until  additional  am 
munition  was  brought.  During  the  day  he  received  a  wound 
in  the  shoulder  that  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his  com 
mand  to  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  the  next  in  rank,  who 
proceeded  to  carry  out  the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  him. 
General  Stuart  says  : 

' '  The  experience  on  Sunday  left  me  under  no  apprehen 
sion  as  to  the  fate  of  the  brigade  ;  if  coolness,  deliberation, 
and  personal  bravery  could  save  it  from  loss  or  disgrace. 
Colonel  Smith  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  engage 
ment  on  Sunday  was  constantly  at  his  post,  rallying, 
encouraging,  and  fighting  his  men  under  incessant  fire  re 
gardless  of  personal  safety. ' ' 

At  last  the  long  day  closed  and  friend  and  foe  sank  ex 
hausted  upon  the  battlefield.  During  all  that  night  tor 
rents  of  rain  fell,  and  while  the  officers  consulted  about 
the  plans  for  the  morrow,  the  soldiers  rested  upon  their 
arms.  But  Johnson  had  failed  in  his  purpose  notwith 
standing  the  impetuosity  of  his  attack,  and  his  own  per 
sonal  gallantry,  which  cost  him  his  life,  for  he  received 
a  fatal  wound  during  the  progress  of  the  battle.  He  had 
not  accomplished  more  than  to  drive  the  Union  army  from 
its  camps  and  press  it  back  towards  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and  he  had  spent  all  his  energy  in  the  terrific  struggle. 
Whether  or  not  with  the  exhausted  troops,  their  high  hopes 
dampened  by  his  death,  Beauregard,  who  succeeded  him, 
could  have  overwhelmed  Grant's  Army  of  the  Tennessee  on 
1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  x.,  part  i.,  p.  259. 


1 8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  following  day,  can  only  be  a  matter  of  conjecture.  The 
safety  of  the  shattered  army  was  insured,  for  the  well-trained 
columns  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  with  General  Buell  in 
command,  arrived  at  sunset  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  all  night  long  they  were  transported 
to  the  battlefield.  On  Monday  morning  the  conflict  was 
renewed,  and  General  Stuart's  brigade  under  its  new  com 
mander  bore  its  full  share  in  driving  the  enemy  back  to 
Corinth. 

The  magnitude  of  this  battle  and  the  heroic  gallantry  of  the 
troops  engaged,  must  appear  from  the  roll  of  the  casualties. 
There  were  1513  officers  and  men  killed,  6601  wounded,  2830 
captured  or  missing,  making  an  aggregate  of  10,944,  as  tne 
number  lost  in  the  Union  army.  How  gallantly  the  Second 
Brigade  of  the  First  Division  did  its  duty  will  be  apparent 
from  the  fact  that  it  lost  587  killed  and  wounded,  and  of  this 
number  the  54th  lost  about  195.  The  loss  on  the  part  of  the 
Confederate  army  was  reported  by  Beauregard  as  1728  killed, 
8012  wounded,  and  957  missing  ;  total  10,697,  but  it  is 
thought  to  have  been  much  greater.  A  captain  of  the  54th 
Ohio  Regiment,  I.  T.  Moore,  of  Company  D,  speaks  thus  of 
some  of  the  incidents  of  the  day  : 

' '  Our  brigade  was  encamped  on  the  extreme  left,  consist 
ing  of  two  thousand  men  commanded  by  Colonel  Stuart, 
acting  Brigadier-General,  and  T.  K.  Smith.  From  the 
nature  of  the  ground  we  were  cut  off  from  the  main  body  of 
our  army.  About  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  we  \vere  attacked  by 
eight  thousand  infantry,  two  divisions  of  cavalry,  and  one 
battalion,  that  shelled  us  first  and  then  advanced  in  solid 
columns.  We  waited  until  they  were  within  three  or  four 
rods  and  then  arose,  advanced  and  fired  \vith  terrible  effect 
and  then  falling  back  a  few  rods  formed  three  oblique  squares 
in  the  woods  to  protect  ourselves  against  cavalry  ;  then  the 
squares  were  reduced  and  formed  in  line  of  battle.  The 
enemy  was  distinctly  seen  not  more  than  twenty  rods  distant 
over  a  ravine.  We  lay  down  and  waited  their  approach, 
then  rose  and  let  drive  at  them.  We  held  the  enemy  here 
for  three  hours,  but  we  had  no  cavalry  or  artillery,  and  the 
enemy  was  five  to  one  of  us.  We  were  compelled  to  fall 


Memoir.  \  g 

back  to  the  river  to  the  gunboats.  .  .  .  We  lay  on 
our  arms  all  night  and  next  morning  about  seven  o'clock 
we  went  into  it  again.  We  pursued  the  rebels  all  day  ; 
lay  on  our  arms  Monday  night,  got  up  Tuesday  morn 
ing,  ordered  over  to  our  left  to  sustain  the  battery ; 
kept  in  line  of  battle  for  this  purpose  all  day.  Lay  out 
Tuesday  night,  again  Wednesday  morning  ordered  to  ad 
vance  three  or  four  miles.  .  .  .  The  field  and  staff  in 
our  brigade  all  day  on  duty  as  far  as  I  know.  Major  Fisher 
was  perfectly  calm  and  serene,  urging  the  men  on  to  action  ; 
but  of  all  men  I  ever  saw,  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  took 
the  lead.  For  an  example  of  his  actions  :  On  Sunday  while 
making  our  grand  stand  against  the  enemy,  numbering  five 
to  our  one,  the  shell,  grape  and  rifle  balls  falling  thick  as 
hail,  he  rode  ' '  Old  Blackie  ' '  all  along  our  lines,  scratching 
his  head,  apparently  as  much  unconscious  as  though  he  was 
on  dress  parade,  directing  the  troops  to  take  good  aim,  shoot 
low,  and  not  shoot  at  all  unless  they  saw  a  rebel  to  shoot  at. 
After  Colonel  Stuart,  Acting  Brigadier-General,  was  wounded 
and  carried  from  the  field,  Colonel  Smith  had  command  of 
the  whole  brigade  and  sometimes  other  regiments,  and  main 
tained  throughout  this  uniform  coolness  and  self-possession. ' ' 

In  his  report,  General  Sherman  says  : 

' '  My  Second  Brigade,  Colonel  Stuart,  was  detached  near 
two  miles  from  my  headquarters.  He  had  to  fight  his  own 
battle  on  Sunday,  and  the  enemy  interposed  between  him 
and  General  Prentiss  early  in  the  day.  Colonel  Stuart  was 
wounded  severely  and  yet  reported  for  duty  Monday  morn 
ing,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  during  the  day,  when  the 
command  devolved  on  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  54th  Ohio,  who 
was  always  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  led  the  brigade 
handsomely." 

In  that  portion  of  his  report  devoted  to  Monday's  battle, 
he  says  : 

' '  The  enemy  had  one  battery  close  by  Shiloh  and  another 
near  the  Hamburg  road,  both  pouring  grape  and  canister 
upon  any  column  of  troops  that  advanced  toward  the  green 
point  of  Water  Oaks.  Wittich '  s  regiment  had  been  repulsed , 
but  the  whole  brigade  of  McCook's  division  advanced  beauti- 


2O  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

fully,  deployed  and  entered  this  dreaded  woods.  I  ordered 
my  Second  Brigade,  then  commanded  by  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith 
(Colonel  Stuart  being  wounded),  to  form  on  its  right,  and 
my  Fourth  Brigade,  Colonel  Buckland,  on  its  right,  all  to 
advance  abreast  with  this  Kentucky  brigade  before  men 
tioned,  which  I  afterwards  found  to  be  Rousseau's  brigade 
of  McCook's  division.  I  gave  personal  direction  to  the 
twenty-four  pounder  guns,  whose  well-directed  fire  first 
silenced  the  enemy's  guns  to  the  left,  and  afterwards  at  the 
Shiloh  Meeting  House.  Rousseau's  brigade  moved  in  splen 
did  order  steadily  to  the  front,  sweeping  everything  before 
it,  and  at  four  P.M.  we  stood  upon  the  ground  of  our  original 
front  line,  and  the  enemy  was  in  full  retreat."  1 

In  this  splendid  charge  no  doubt  Colonel  Smith  made  the 
acquaintance  of  General  Rousseau,  with  whom,  until  his 
death,  he  retained  the  most  friendly  relations. 

So  ended  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Had  the  issue  been  differ 
ent,  the  theatre  of  war  might  have  been  transferred  north 
of  the  Ohio  River.  The  chief  interest  of  this  battle  arises  not 
alone,  however,  from  the  terrible  consequences  of  success  or 
failure  on  either  side,  but  from  the  evidence  it  gives  of  the 
natural  soldiership  of  the  population  from  whom  the  com 
ponent  elements  of  each  army  were  made  up.  It  is  safe  to 
say,  that  in  no  conflict  have  raw  troops  behaved  with  greater 
steadiness  or  gallantry.  That  there  were  some  who  skulked 
or  sought  safety  in  flight,  cannot  be  denied  ;  but,  for  the 
most  part,  they  acquitted  themselves  worthily,  and  gave 
evidence  that  the  conflict  must  be  stubbornly  fought  out  to 
its  logical  conclusion.2 

Colonel  Smith  remained  in  command  of  the  brigade  until 
the  1 8th  of  May,  when  he  assumed  again  the  command  of  his 
regiment,  which  was  assigned  to  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Morgan 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  x.,  part  i.,  p.  251. 

8  General  Sherman's  own  conduct  in  this  battle  won  him  his  com 
mission  of  Major-General.  In  a  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
dated  May  5,  1862,  Asst.  Secy.  Thos.  A.  Scott  says  :  .  .  .  "Nom 
ination  of  Sherman  for  Major-General  gives  great  satisfaction.  It 
was  nobly  gained  upon  the  field  of  Shiloh."  War  Records,  series  i., 
vol.  x.,  part  ii.,  p.  164. 


Memoir 


21 


L.  Smith.  Gen.  Morgan  L.  Smith's  brigade  was  the  First 
of  the  Fifth  Division, :  and  the  next  general  engagement  that 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  54th  was  at  Russell's  House  in  the  opera 
tions  before  Corinth.  It  was  not  so  actively  engaged  as  the 
other  regiments  of  the  brigade,  but  elicited  from  its  com 
mander  complimentary  reference.  General  Smith  says  in  his 
report  under  date  of  May  19,  1862  : 

"  The  54th,  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  and  the  571*1  Ohio, 
Col.  A.  V.  Rice,  were  held  in  good  order,  obeyed  all  orders 
with  alacrity,  and  were  disappointed  because  they  could  not 
become  hotly  engaged." 

General  Sherman  endorses  this  report  : 

' '  I  was  near  at  hand  and  witnessed  with  great  satisfaction 
the  cool  and  steady  advance  of  this  brigade,  and  bear  my 
willing,  testimony  to  the  brave  conduct  of  Colonel  (M.  L,.) 
Smith  and  the  entire  brigade,  officers  and  men." 

On  the  29th  of  May,  Corinth  was  taken,  and  the  54th  Ohio 
occupied  the  town  as  a  guard.5  From  that  day  this  regiment 

1  This  Brigade  consisted  of  the  8th  Missouri,   55th  Illinois,  54th 
Ohio,  and  syth  Ohio.      War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  x.,  part  ii.,  p.  194. 

2  "  I  came  back  through  Corinth  with  my  last  brigade,  and  finding 
there  no  part  of  Buell's  forces,  I  thought  proper  to  leave  a  regiment — 
the  Fifty-fourth    Ohio,  Col.   T.  Kilby  Smith— to  guard   the  public 
property  there.     .     .     ."     Sherman  to  Halleck,  May  30,  1862.      War 
Records,  series  i.,  vol.  x.,  part  ii.,  p.  231. 

5  The  spirit  animating  the  Union  army  at  that  time  is  well  illus 
trated  by  General  Sherman's  congratulatory  order  after  the  fall  of 
Corinth  : 

"General  Orders) 
No.  30.  / 

"  HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  DIVISION, 

"  CAMP  BEFORE  CORINTH,  May  31,  1862. 

"The  general  commanding  Fifth  Division,  right  wing,  takes  this 
occasion  to  express  to  the  officers  and  men  of  this  command  his  great 
satisfaction  with  them  for  the  courage,  steadiness,  and  great  industry 
displayed  by  them  during  the  past  month.  Since  leaving  our  mem 
orable  camp  at  Shiloh  we  have  occupied  and  strongly  intrenched 
seven  distinct  camps  in  a  manner  to  excite  the  admiration  and  highest 
commendation  of  General  Halleck.  The  division  has  occupied  the 
right  flank  of  the  Grand  Army,  thereby  being  more  exposed  and 
calling  for  more  hard  work  and  larger  guard  details  than  from  any 


22  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

was  engaged  in  active  field  service  in  Tennessee,  following 
the  fortunes  of  Sherman's  division,  but  in  no  severe  engage 
ments  until  the  26th  of  December,  1862. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  follow  in  detail  the  movements  of 
Sherman's  command  immediately  following  the  capture  of 
Corinth.  About  the  2oth  of  June  he  occupied  Holly  Springs, 
Miss.,  pushing  his  cavalry  as  far  South  as  the  Tallahatchie 
River  and  destroying  several  bridges.  On  the  2Qth  of  June 
he  took  up  his  line  of  march  from  Moscow  Bend  and  pro- 
other  single  division,  and  the  commanding  general  reports  that  his 
officers  and  men  have  promptly  and  cheerfully  fulfilled  their  duty, 
and  have  sprung  to  the  musket  or  spade,  according  to  the  occasion, 
and  have  just  reason  to  claim  a  large  share  in  the  honors  that  are  due 
to  the  whole  army  for  the  glorious  victory  terminating  at  Corinth  on 
yesterday,  and  it  affords  him  great  pleasure  to  bear  full  and  willing 
testimony  to  the  qualities  of  his  command  that  have  achieved  this 
victory,  a  victory  none  the  less  decisive  because  attended  with  com 
paratively  little  loss  of  life. 

"  But  a  few  days  ago  a  large  and  powerful  army  of  rebels  lay  at 
Corinth,  with  outposts  extending  to  our  very  camp  at  Shiloh.  They 
held  two  railroads  extending  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  across 
the  whole  extent  of  this  country,  with  a  vast  number  of  locomotives 
and  cars  to  bring  to  them  speedily  and  certainly  their  reinforcements 
and  supplies.  They  called  to  their  aid  all  their  armies  from  every 
quarter,  abandoning  the  sea-coast  and  the  great  river  Mississippi, 
that  they  might  overwhelm  us  with  numbers  in  the  place  of  their  own 
choosing.  They  had  their  chosen  leaders,  men  of  high  reputation 
and  courage,  and  they  dared  us  to  leave  the  cover  of  our  iron-clad 
gunboats  to  come  and  fight  them  in  their  trenches  and  still  more 
dangerous  ambuscades  of  their  Southern  swamps  and  forests.  Their 
whole  country,  from  Richmond  to  Memphis  and  from  Nashville  to 
Mobile,  rung  with  their  taunts  and  boastings  as  to  how  they  would 
immolate  the  Yankees  if  they  dared  to  leave  the  Tennessee  River. 
They  boldly  and  defiantly  challenged  us  to  meet  them  at  Corinth. 
We  accepted  the  challenge,  and  came  slowly  and  without  attempt  at 
concealment  to  the  very  ground  of  their  selection,  and  they  have  fled 
away.  We  yesterday  marched  unopposed  through  the  burning  embers 
of  their  destroyed  camps  and  property  and  pursued  them  to  their 
swamps,  until  burning  bridges  plainly  confessed  they  had  fled,  and 
not  marched  away  for  better  ground. 

"  It  is  a  victory  as  brilliant  and  important  as  any  recorded  in  his 
tory,  and  every  officer  and  soldier  who  has  lent  his  aid  has  just  reason 
to  be  proud  of  his  part.  No  amount  of  sophistry  or  words  from  the 


Memoir  23 

ceeded  again  to  Holly  Springs.  On  the  yth  of  July  we  find 
Colonel  Smith's  command,  one  regiment,  on  guard  at  Am- 
mon's  Bridge  over  the  Wolf  River  between  Moscow  and  L,a 
Grange.  On  the  i5th  of  July,  by  command  of  Major-General 
Halleck,  the  divisions  of  Sherman  and  Hurlbut  were  ordered 
to  Memphis,  and  on  the  following  day,  General  Halleck  an 
nounced  his  orders  whereby  he  was  transferred  to  the  com 
mand  in  chief  of  the  army  at  Washington.1  On  the  2oth  of 
July,  the  command  reached  Memphis,  and  was  encamped  in 
and  about  Fort  Pickering.  General  Sherman  made  the  best 

leaders  of  the  rebellion  can  succeed  in  giving  the  evacuation  of  Cor 
inth  under  the  circumstances  any  other  title  than  that  of  a  signal 
defeat,  more  humiliating  to  them  and  their  cause  than  if  we  had 
entered  the  place  over  the  dead  and  mangled  bodies  of  their  soldiers. 
We  are  not  here  to  kill  and  slay,  but  to  vindicate  the  honor  and  just 
authority  of  that  Government  which  has  been  bequeathed  to  us  by 
our  honored  fathers,  and  to  whom  we  would  be  recreant  if  we  per 
mitted  their  work  to  pass  to  our  children  weaned  and  spoiled  by 
ambitious  and  wicked  rebels. 

"The  commanding  general,  while  thus  claiming  for  his  division 
their  just  share  in  the  glorious  result,  must  at  the  same  time  remind 
them  that  much  yet  remains  to  be  done,  and  that  all  must  still  con 
tinue  the  same  vigilance,  patience,  industry,  and  obedience  till  the 
enemy  lays  down  his  arms  and  publicly  acknowledges  for  their  sup 
posed  grievances  they  must  obey  the  laws  of  their  country,  and  not 
attempt  its  overthrow  by  threats,  by  cruelty,  and  by  war.  They  must 
be  made  to  feel  and  acknowledge  the  power  of  a  just  and  mighty 
nation.  This  result  can  only  be  accomplished  by  a  cheerful  and 
ready  obedience  to  the  orders  and  authority  of  our  own  leaders,  in 
whom  we  now  have  just  reason  to  feel  the  most  implicit  confidence. 
That  the  Fifth  Division  of  the  right  wing  will  do  this,  and  that  in 
due  time  we  will  all  go  to  our  families  and  friends  at  home,  is  the 
earnest  prayer  and  wish  of  your  immediate  commander."  Ibid.,  p.  233. 

1  "I am  ordered  to  Washington  and  leave  to-morrow  (Thursday).  I 
have  done  my  best  to  avoid  it.  I  have  studied  out  and  can  finish  the 
campaign  in  the  West.  Don't  understand  and  cannot  manage  affairs 
in  the  Bast.  Moreover,  do  not  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
quarrels  of  Stanton  and  McClellan.  The  change  does  not  please  me, 
but  I  must  obey  orders.  Good-by  and  may  God  bless  you.  I  am  more 
than  satisfied  with  everything  you  have  done.  You  have  always  had 
my  respect,  but  recently  you  have  won  my  highest  admiration.  I 
deeply  regret  to  part  from  you." — Halleck  to  Sherman,  Corinth,  July 
16,  1862.  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xvii.,  part  ii.,  p.  100. 


24  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  this  opportunity  of  comparative  quietude  in  camp  for  per- 
fecting  the  organization  of  his  troops.  In  his  general  orders 
of  July  24th,  he  directs  : 

' '  Every  officer  in  command  of  a  regiment  or  detachment 
will  now  see  that  his  men  are  well  protected  with  clothing, 
provisions,  arms,  ammunition,  canteens,  haversacks,  and 
everything  which  his  own  experience  has  shown  him  is 
necessary  for  the  efficiency  of  the  soldiers.  .  .  .  All  officers 
of  this  command  must  now  study  their  books.  Ignorance 
of  duty  must  no  longer  be  pleaded."  1 

On  the  8th  of  September,  the  brigade  of  Morgan  1^.  Smith, 
or  selections  from  its  regiments,  were  ordered  on  an  expedi 
tion  for  the  destruction  of  a  new  bridge  across  Cold  Water 
about  seven  miles  below  the  town  of  Hernando.2  The  expe 
dition  was  eminently  successful,  and  did  sharp  fighting  with 
six  hundred  Confederate  cavalry,  and  defeated  them  with 
small  loss.3  For  the  most  part,  the  summer  and  fall  of  the 
year  1862  was  occupied  by  the  general  in  command  with  the 
details  of  civil  administration  in  Memphis.  His  subordinates 
were  occupied  in  the  disciplining  of  their  troops. 

The  attention  of  the  administration  at  Washington  had 
been  directed  for  some  time  towards  the  opening  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  by  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg.  General 
McClernand  had  been  detailed  on  a  special  mission  to  the 
Governors  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Wisconsin,  to  secure 
additional  troops,  with  the  understanding,  expressed  or  im 
plied,  that  he  would  be  put  in  command  of  the  expeditionary 
forces.  During  this  time,  General  Grant,  who  had  succeeded 
to  the  command  vacated  by  Halleck  on  his  transfer  to  Wash 
ington,  had  been  in  correspondence  with  Sherman  and  Steele, 
who  commanded  the  department  of  Arkansas,  upon  the 
same  subject.  On  the  25th  of  November,4  Sherman  issued 
his  orders  to  leave  Memphis,  and  on  the  26th  began  his 
march  southward  to  form  junction  with  McPherson  and 
Hamilton,  south  of  Holly  Springs,  where  General  Grant 
fixed  his  headquarters  on  the  2gth.  On  the  6th  of  December 
the  command  was  at  College  Hill,  Miss.,  and  on  the  gth, 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xvii.,  part  ii.,  p.  119. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  209.  *  Ibid.,  p.  217.  *  Ibid.,  p.  361. 


Memoir  2  5 

Sherman  ordered  back  the  men  of  the  Second  Division  under 
M.  I,.  Smith,  to  Memphis.1  On  the  i3th  of  December  we 
find  Sherman  at  Memphis,  writing  : 

"  I  have  to  report  the  arrival  of  Morgan  L.  Smith's  divi 
sion  in  the  city,  so  that  my  Memphis  forces  of  three  divisions 
are  now  on  hand.  ...  I  will  have  all  things  ready  by 
the  1 8th,  except  as  a  matter  of  course  the  transportation.  I 
have  ordered  the  quartermaster  here  to  hold  on  to  ten  gun 
boats  for  our  use."  a 

On  the  i Qth,  orders  were  issued  for  the  embarkation  of  the 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Divisions  of  the  command  which 
was  now  known  as  the  ' '  Thirteenth  Army  Corps  ' ' : 

' '  To  proceed  with  all  dispatch  by  divisions  below  Helena 
and  lay  to  there  on  the  Mississippi  side,  the  head  of  the  col 
umn  at  Friars  Point  and  the  other  divisions  well  closed  up, 
there  to  await  further  orders."  3 

General  Sherman's  command  consisted  of  about  twenty 
thousand  men,  and  the  plan  as  outlined  by  General  Grant, 
contemplated  his  landing  above  Vicksburg,  proceeding  up 
the  Yazoo  as  far  as  practicable,  and  cutting  the  Mississippi 
Central  Railroad  and  the  railroads  running  east  from  Vicks 
burg  where  they  cross  the  Black  River.  Grant  himself  was 
to  remain  on  the  north  of  the  Mississippi  and  co-operate  as 
circumstances  might  require.  After  cutting  the  two  railroads 
Sherman's  movements  were  left  to  his  own  judgment.* 
Grant's  official  orders  dated  December  8th,  addressed  to 
General  Sherman,  directed  him  to  assume  command  of  the 
troops  then  at  Memphis  and  such  portion  of  General  Curtis' s 
forces  as  were  at  that  time  east  of  the  Mississippi,  to  organize 
them  into  brigades  and  divisions  and  as  soon  as  possible  to 
proceed  with  them  down  the  river  to  the  vicinity  of  Vicks 
burg,  and  with  the  co-operation  of  the  gunboat  fleet  under 
command  of  Flag  Officer  Porter,  to  proceed  to  the  reduction 
of  that  place.6  Sherman  planned  to  reach  Vicksburg  about 
Christmas  time,  and  to  connect  with  Porter  at  Milliken's 
Bend,  twenty-five  miles  above  Vicksburg  on  the  24th.6  On 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xvii.,  part  ii.,  p.  397. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  408.  z  Ibid.,  p.  434. 

4 Ibid.,  parti.,  p.  474.  5  Ibid.,  p.  6or.  6  Ibid.,  p.  603. 


26  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  25th  of  December,  after  having  destroyed  portions  of  the 
railroads  upon  which  Vicksburg  depended  for  its  supplies,  he 
had  his  forces  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  and  the  whole 
naval  squadron  of  the  Mississippi,  iron  clads  and  wooden 
boats,  was  also  there  with  Admiral  Porter  in  command.  On 
the  26th  he  debarked  his  command  and  moved  up  in  four 
columns  toward  Vicksburg.  On  the  night  of  the  2;th  the 
ground  was  reconnoitred  and  found  to  be  as  difficult  as  it 
possibly  could  be  from  nature  and  art.  He  describes  it  thus  : 

"  Immediately  in  our  front  was  a  bayou  passable  only  at 
two  points  on  a  narrow  levee  and  on  a  sand  bar  which  was 
perfectly  commanded  by  the  enemy's  sharp  shooters  that 
lined  the  levee  or  parapet  on  its  opposite  bank.  Beyond  this 
was  an  irregular  strip  of  bench  or  table  land,  on  which  was 
constructed  a  series  of  rifle  pits  and  batteries,  and  beyond 
that  a  high  abrupt  range  of  hills,  whose  scarred  sides  were 
marked  all  the  way  up  with  rifle  trenches  and  the  crowns  of 
the  principal  hills  presented  heavy  batteries."  ' 

It  was  against  such  defences  as  these  that  it  was  proposed 
to  lead  this  expeditionary  force ;  and  the  purpose  was  carried 
out.  Some  skirmishing  was  carried  on  on  the  28th,  and 
during  that  day  while  reconnoitering,  Gen.  Morgan  I/. 
Smith  received  a  critical  wound  in  the  hip,  and  the  com 
mand  of  his  division  falling  to  Gen.  David  Stuart,  Col.  T. 
Kilby  Smith  took  command  of  Stuart's  brigade.  Sherman 
had  expected  to  hear  some  news  of  the  arrival  or  approach 
of  an  expeditionary  force  under  command  of  General  Banks 
proceeding  up  the  river  from  New  Orleans,  but  Banks  had 
not  passed  Port  Hudson.  No  word  had  reached  head 
quarters  for  some  time  from  General  Grant,  and,  as  Sherman 
says  : 

' '  Time  being  everything  to  us,  I  determined  to  assault  the 
hills  in  front  of  Morgan  on  the  morning  of  the  29th,— 
Morgan's  division  to  carry  the  position  on  the  summit  of  the 
hill,  Steele's  division  to  support  him  and  hold  the  country 
road.  I  had  placed  General  A.  J.  Smith  in  command  of  his 
own  (first)  and  that  of  M.  L.  Smith  (second)  I  ordered  to 
cross  on  the  sand  pit  undermining  the  steep  bank  of  the 

1  Ibid.,  p.  606. 


Memoir  2  7 

bayou  on  the  farther  side  facing  the  levee  parapet  and  first 
line  of  rifle  pits,  to  prevent  a  concentration  on  Morgan. 
The  assault  was  made  and  a  lodgment  effected  on  the  hard 
table  land  near  the  country  road,  and  the  head  of  the  as 
saulting  columns  reached  different  points  of  the  enemy's 
works,  but  there  met  so  withering  a  fire  from  the  rifle  pits 
and  cross  fire  of  grape  and  canister  from  the  batteries,  that 
they  faltered  and  finally  fell  back  to  the  point  of  starting 
leaving  many  dead,  wounded,  and  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  .  .  .  When  the  night  of  the  2gth  closed  in,  we 
stood  upon  our  original  ground  and  had  suffered  a  repulse. ' ' 

After  consultation  with  Porter,  it  was  determined  to  make 
another  assault  on  the  following  morning  at  four  o'clock  ; 
but  subsequently,  under  the  advice  of  the  Admiral,  that, 
"  in  as  much  as  the  moon  does  not  set  to-night  until  5.25, 
the  landing  must  be  a  day-light  affair,  which,  in  my  opinion, 
is  too  hazardous  to  try, ' '  Sherman  drew  off  his  forces  and  re- 
embarked  on  his  transports  on  January  2d/ 

General  Sherman's  report  shows  the  sharp  fighting  the 
Second  Divison  took  part  in  during  his  operations.  The 
Fourth  Brigade  under  the  command  of  T.  Kilby  Smith  was 
charged  especially  with  the  duty  of  clearing  away  a  certain 
road  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  General  Stuart  says  : 

'  *  The  work  was  vigorously  pressed  under  his  immediate 
supervision  and  orders  and  he  devoted  himself  to  it  with  as 
much  energy  and  activity  as  any  living  man  could  employ. 
It  had  to  be  prosecuted  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  sharp 
shooters,  protected  as  well  as  the  men  might  be  by  our 
skirmishers  on  the  bank,  who  were  ordered  to  keep  up  so 
vigorous  a  fire  that  the  enemy  should  not  dare  to  lift  their 
heads  above  their  rifle  pits  ;  but  the  enemy,  and  especially 
their  armed  negroes,  did  dare  to  rise  and  fire,  and  did  serious 
execution  upon  our  men.  I  received  a  message  from  Gen. 
Sherman  verbally,  that  Gen.  Morgan  was  crossing  and  to 
push  my  forces  across  if  possible.  I  ordered  Col.  Smith 
(54th  Ohio)  to  commence  the  crossing  of  his  brigade  at  some 
hazard,  and  he  placed  his  own  regiment  (54th  Ohio)  in  the 
advance  and  had  them  in  the  right  wajr  descending  the  hill 
1  Ibid.,  p.  608,  609. 


28  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

when  Brig. -Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  appeared  on  the  ground  to 
assume  the  command  of  the  division  by  Major-Gen.  Sher 
man's  orders.  .  .  .  After  Gen.  Smith  assumed  command, 
he  ordered  the  work  to  be  resumed  in  the  roadway  to  clear 
off  all  obstacles  still  further.  Under  the  fire  of  battery  and 
the  skirmishers,  I  set  a  party  of  thirty  men  with  officers 
(from  the  54th  Ohio)  at  work,  which  was  by  this  time  well 
down  near  the  foot  of  the  steep,  in  view  of  the  enemy's  sharp 
shooters,  and  the  first  man  to  strike  an  axe  into  a  tree  was 
shot  dead.  At  almost  the  same  moment,  a  shell  from  one 
of  our  batteries  exploded  prematurely,  killing  three  men  in 
the  roadway  and  wounding  some  others.  Two  other  shells 
from  the  same  gun  prematurely  exploded  in  the  same  man 
ner  and  the  men  swore  terribly,  but  did  not  seem  dismayed 
nor  did  they  leave  their  ground  till  they  were  retired  by 
Gen.  Smith's  orders.  He  desired  to  make  a  personal  recon- 
noissance  of  the  ground  in  our  front  and  our  operations  for 
the  day  were  suspended.  It  was  near  sunset,  and  the  Fourth 
Brigade  had  alone  of  all  the  troops  in  the  division,  been  en 
gaged  as  skirmishers,  as  pickets,  and  working  parties  from 
the  time  we  were  debarked,  and  were  fatigued.  .  .  . 
Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  of  the  54th  Ohio,  who  succeeded  to  the 
command  of  the  Fourth  Brigade,  after  I  assumed  that  of  the 
division,  performed  every  duty  with  activity,  intelligence 
and  directness  most  marked.  He  was  constantly  in  every 
part  of  the  field  executing  my  orders,  and  was  tireless  in  his 
zeal,  enterprise  and  devotion.  I  was  sincerely  grateful  to 
him.  Unsuccessful  though  our  attempt  was,  it  proved  our 
men  to  be  all  we  had  hoped  of  them.  There  was  no  skulk 
ing  timidity  and  no  racing  to  the  rear."  1 

General  Sherman's  losses  in  this  assault  in  killed,  wounded 
and  missing,  were  1776  ;  while  those  of  the  enemy  were  but  63 
killed,  134  wounded  and  10  missing.  It  was  undoubtedly  a 
decided  victory  for  the  Confederate  forces,  and  the  Union 
commander  was  compelled  to  send  a  flag  of  truce,  asking 
permission  to  bury  his  dead  and  care  for  his  wounded.8 

'The  casualties  in  the  brigade  were  :  n  killed,  40  wounded,  and  4 
missing.  Ibid.,  p.  637. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  668.     This  flag  was  carried  by  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith. 


Memoir 


29 


Without  a  very  careful  study  of  the  topography  of  the  coun 
try  about  Vicksburg  from  maps  and  the  descriptions  given  in 
detail  in  the  reports,  the  reader  cannot  understand  the  vari 
ous  movements  of  troops  ;  but  what  has  been  quoted  is 
enough  to  show  their  metal,  the  patient,  steady  heroism  dis 
played  in  the  conflict  and  the  undaunted  spirit  with  which 
they  sustained  their  reverses.  They  were  veterans  after  a 
year  of  campaigning  and  instruction,  since  they  moved  up 
the  Tennessee  River  to  Pittsburg  Landing.  Sherman  was 
severely  criticised  for  his  action  in  this  assault,  known 
among  military  men  sometimes  as  the  battle  of  ' '  Chickasaw 
Bayou,"  and  the  newspaper  criticisms  led  to  the  trial  by 
court  martial  of  a  reporter  who,  in  the  presence  of  Col.  T. 
Kilby  Smith  and  other  officers,  admitted  to  General  Sherman 
the  inaccuracy  of  his  published  statements.1  In  this  affair 
Sherman  showed  his  characteristic  courage  and  straightfor 
ward  determination  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  his  position, 
and  he  came  out  of  it  without  losing  a  particle  of  the 
confidence  of  his  officers  and  men.  The  whole  assault  was 
practically  in  the  nature  of  a  forlorn  hope,  and  it  proved  that 
Vicksburg  was  the  most  difficult  obstacle  yet  encountered  by 
the  Army  of  the  Southwest.  In  writing  of  this  attempt, 
Admiral  Porter  expresses  himself  thus  : 

' '  Had  the  combinations  been  carried  out  in  our  last  ex 
pedition,  Gen.  Grant  advancing  by  Grenada,  Gen.  Banks 
up  the  river,  and  Gen.  Sherman  down  the  river,  the  whole 
matter  would  have  assumed  a  different  aspect  ;  but  Gen. 
Sherman  was  the  only  one  on  the  ground.  The  army  of 
Gen.  Grant  had  been  cut  off  from  its  supplies,2  Gen.  Banks 
never  came  up  the  river,  and  Gen.  Sherman  having  at 
tempted  to  take  the  enemy  by  surprise,  lost  about  seven 
hundred  wounded,  three  hundred  killed  and  about  four 
hundred  prisoners. ' ' 3 

The  command  now  moved  to  Milliken's  Bend,  where  it 
was  joined  by  Major-General  McClernand,  who,  in  pursu 
ance  of  orders  from  Washington  under  directions  of  Gen- 

1  Ibid.,  Series  i.,  vol.  xvii.,  part  ii.,  p.  890. 

2  By  the  capture  of  Holly  Springs. 

3  Porter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  January  18,  1863  ;  Ibid.,  p.  888. 


30  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

eral  Grant,  assumed  command  of  the  forces  on  the  4th  of 
January,  1863.  McClernand  determined,  under  the  advice 
of  Sherman,  to  proceed  to  the  reduction  of  a  strong  fort 
established  by  the  enemy  on  the  White  River,  known  as 
"  Arkansas  Post,"  or  "  Post  Arkansas,"  a  small  village  fifty 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  below  Little  Rock.  It  was  defended  by  Fort 
Hindman  and  garrisoned  by  about  five  thousand  troops 
under  command  of  the  Confederate  General  Churchill.  Upon 
taking  command  of  the  expedition,  he  divided  the  forces  into 
two  corps  d'armee,  namely,  the  Thirteenth,  his  own,  and 
the  Fifteenth,  Sherman's.  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  Second  Brigade  of  the  Second  Division  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  Brigadier-General  Stuart  commanding. 
This  brigade  was  composed  of  the  55th  Illinois,  the  i2yth 
Illinois,  the  54th  Ohio,  and  83d  Ohio,  and  the  57th  Ohio. 
On  the  gth  of  January  the  command  landed,  and  on  the  loth 
marched  towards  the  fort.  On  the  nth,  a  combined  attack 
was  made  by  the  army  and  the  gunboats  under  command  of 
Admiral  Porter.  The  assault  was  so  successful  that  white 
flags  were  raised  without  orders  of  General  Churchill,  and 
the  whole  rebel  force  surrendered  at  discretion.  General 
McClernand,  in  his  official  report  speaks  of  the  brigade  com 
manders  of  the  Second  Division  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  Col.  G.  A.  Smith  and  T.  Kilby  Smith  led  their  com 
mands  in  a  manner  challenging  the  commendation  of  their 
superior  officers." 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  latter  to  marshal  the  prisoners  who 
had  been  taken, — nearly  five  thousand  men,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  mercantile  stores  were  the  spoils  of  this  exploit. 
The  Union  army  lost  an  aggregate  of  1061  men  in  killed, 
wounded  and  missing.  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith  received  from 
Sherman  commendation  as  having  ' '  commanded  the  Second 
Brigade  of  the  division  and  did  it  bravely  and  well,  and 
deserves  special  notice  ' '  ;  and  Stuart  thus  speaks  of  his 
brigade  commanders  : 

"  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith,  commanding  the  First  Brigade,  and 
Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  commanding  the  Second  Brigade,  led 
their  brigades  with  gallantry  and  deserve  honor  and  advance- 


Memoir  2  i 

<~> 

ment — deserve  it  because  they  have  earned  it  in  the  field, 
where  alone  it  can  be  earned."  ' 

The  success  at  Arkansas  Post  gave  no  little  reputation  to 
General  McClernand,  but  it  is  fair  to  believe  that  he  reaped 
but  the  harvest  that  had  been  sown  by  Sherman  :  such  is  the 
testimony  of  Porter,  who  remarked  in  a  letter  to  Sherman 
under  date  of  February  3,  1863  : 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  706,  757,  773.  Report  of  Colonel  Thomas  Kilby  Smith, 
54th  Ohio  Infantry,  commanding  Second  Brigade  : 

"  HDQRS.  20  BRIG.,  2D  Drv.,  I5TH  A.  C. 

"  POST  ARKANSAS,  ARK.,  Jany  12,  1863. 
"  CAPTAIN  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  part  taken  in  the  late  action  by 
the  Second  Brigade  under  my  command. 

"  Debarking  by  order  of  General  Stuart  on  Saturday,  loth  instant, 
the  Brigade  followed  the  line  of  march  indicated,  and  just  before 
night  took  position  in  the  woods  in  front  of  one  of  the  enemy's  bat 
teries.  I  ordered  the  57th  Ohio  to  the  right  to  support  the  8th  Mis 
souri,  by  request  of  Colonel  Smith,  commanding  the  First  Brigade, 
and  the  55th  Illinois  and  83d  Indiana  forward  with  instructions  to 
draw  the  enemy's  fire,  which  they  did,  with  such  effect  as  to  cause  the 
loss  of  14  killed  and  wounded  b)r  their  shells,  among  them  Captain 
Yeoman,  commanding  the  54th  Ohio,  whose  right  arm  was  shattered, 
since  amputated. 

"Barlythe  next  morning  the  Brigade  moved  forward,  and  at  one 
o'clock  formed  in  line  of  battle  to  storm  the  fortifications,  the  57th 
Ohio,  led  by  Colonel  Mungen,  on  the  right,  the  I27th  Illinois  on  the 
centre,  the  83d  Indiana  on  the  left,  with  the  55th  Illinois  and  54th 
Ohio  in  reserve  immediately  in  the  rear.  Their  action  was  under  the 
eye  of  General  Stuart.  I  saw  none  falter,  and  where  all  officers  and 
men  were  so  gallant,  I  cannot  make  invidious  distinction.  The  83d 
Indiana  and  the  57th  Ohio  each  have  a  Texan  flag  as  trophies  sur 
rendered  by  the  enemy  before  the  close  of  the  fight.  I  desire  to  make 
special  mention  of  Colonel  Malmborg,  commanding  the  55th  Illinois, 
whose  zeal  and  unremitting  diligence  in  superintending  working 
parties  and  planting  batteries,  performing  at  the  same  time  his  whole 
duty  to  his  regiment,  command  compliment. 

"  With  a  list  of  casualties  in  my  command,  appended  below,  and 
which  I  have  to  submit  herewith,  I  am,  with  the  highest  respect, 
"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  THOMAS  KII.BY  SMITH, 
"  Col.  comdg.  2d  Brig.,  2d  Div.,  15  A.  C. 
"  CAPT.  C.  MCDONALD, 

"  Ass't  Adjt.  Gen." 


32  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

' '  As  to  the  Arkansas  Post  affair,  it  originated  with  your 
self  entirely,  and  you  proposed  it  to  me  on  the  night  you 
embarked  the  troops,  and  before  it  was  known  you  had  been 
relieved,  and  after  General  McClernand  had  arrived.  What 
ever  disposition  was  made  of  the  troops  after  landing,  your 
plans  at  least  were  carried  out  as  far  as  the  state  of  the  woods 
and  country  would  permit.  .  .  . " 

After  dismantling  Fort  Hindman,  and  destroying  a  quan 
tity  of  property  and  sending  an  expedition  to  capture  Des 
Arc  and  Du  Val's  Bluff,  McClernand  by  orders  from  General 
Grant,  withdrew  his  army  to  Napoleon  on  the  Mississippi  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River.  On  the  2ist  of  January, 
1863,  the  troops  were  landed  at  Young's  Point,  and  on  the 
2d  of  February,  General  Grant  arrived  and  took  command 
in  person.  He  at  once  set  himself  to  consider  the  problem 
of  the  reduction  of  the  great  rebel  stronghold.  Vicksburg 
is  situated  on  a  high  bluff  on  the  side  of  a  horseshoe  made 
by  the  Mississippi  taking  a  sharp  curve.  The  bluffs  upon 
which  it  stands  rise 

"  A  little  below  the  City  and  extend  northeast  twelve  or 
fifteen  miles  to  the  Yazoo  River  where  they  terminate  in 
Haines  Bluff.  In  the  rear  of  the  city  the  ground  is  high  and 
broken,  falling  off  gradually  towards  the  Big  Black  River 
twelve  miles  distant ;  this  range  of  hills  fronting  the  Missis 
sippi  and  the  Yazoo,  which  projected  along  its  entire  length, 
and  the  only  approach  to  Vicksburg  by  land  was  up  their 
steep  faces.  ...  At  the  base  of  these  bluffs  were  rifle 
pits,  and  to  render  the  approach  still  more  difficult,  there  is  a 
deep  natural  ditch  called  'Chickasaw  Bayou,'  extending  from 
the  Yazoo  below  Haines  Bluff,  passing  along  near  the  base 
of  the  bluffs  for  some  distance  and  emptying  into  the  Missis 
sippi.  Added  to  this  is  a  deep  slough,  whose  bottom  is  quick 
sand,  and  supposed  to  have  once  been  a  lake,  which  stretched 
along  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  and  entered  the  bayou  where 
the  latter  approached  them."  3 

Sherman's  assault  on  the  28th  of  December,  1862,  had 
shown  the  futility  of  any  effort  to  carry  the  enemy's  works 

1  Ibid.,  p.  883. 

2  The  Civil  War  in  America,  L/ossit:^,  vol.  ii.,  p.  576. 


Memoir  3  3 

by  assault  from  the  front  of  Chickasaw  Bayou.  When  Gen 
eral  Grant  looked  over  the  field  it  was  suggested  to  his  mind 
that  if  a  canal  could  be  cut  across  the  narrow  peninsula 
formed  by  the  bend  of  the  great  river  and  the  waters  of  the 
stream  be  diverted  through  this  canal,  Vicksburg  would  be  left 
isolated,  and  troops  and  supplies  might  be  transported  with 
out  annoyance  from  its  batteries  to  a  new  base  below  the 
town.  The  canal  had  been  commenced  the  year  before,  by 
General  Williams,  and  to  complete  this,  a  mile  of  digging 
was  all  that  was  necessary  and  energetic  efforts  were  made 
to  accomplish  the  work  ;  but  it  was  the  spring  of  the  year 
and  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  were  very  high,  and  not 
withstanding  every  effort  to  restrain  them,  on  the  8th  of 
March  they  broke  through  the  barrier  that  had  been  erected 
and  submerged  the  camps.  The  project  of  diverting  the 
main  stream  was  found  to  be  futile,  and  a  new  plan  had  to 
be  devised.  A  glance  at  the  map  of  the  region  about  Vicks 
burg,  shows  an  extraordinary  system  of  waterways,  various 
inland  streams  being  so  connected  that  it  is  possible  for  boats 
of  light  draught  to  make  their  way  from  points  on  the 
Mississippi  through  the  country  and  back  again  to  the  main 
stream.  Some  of  these,  such  as  the  Tallahatchie,  the  Sun 
flower,  Deer  Creek,  Steele's  Bayou,  and  others,  immediately 
became  objects  of  attention  to  the  general  commanding,  and 
he  thought  that  if  a  channel  were  cut  from  the  western  shore 
of  the  Mississippi  forty  or  fifty  miles  above  Vicksburg  across 
the  narrow  neck  of  land  into  Lake  Providence,  he  could  ob 
tain  a  continuous  water  connection  far  below  Vicksburg 
through  the  bayous  Baxter  and  Macon  and  the  Tensas  River, 
as  also  into  the  Washita  and  Red  Rivers.  Various  ex 
peditions  were  projected  and  sent  out  to  accomplish  this  re 
sult.1  On  the  1 5th  of  March,  Admiral  Porter,  taking  some 
of  his  gunboats,  endeavored  to  find  a  way  through  Steele's 
Bayou  into  the  Sunflower  Creek,  and  so  into  the  Yazoo  be 
tween  Haines'  Bluff  and  Yazoo  City.  Perhaps  no  more 
remarkable  effort  was  made  during  the  war  to  carry  on  hos 
tilities  by  the  aid  of  the  naval  arm  of  the  service.  Admiral 
Porter  was  aided  by  a  detachment  from  the  Fifteenth  Army 

1  Ibid.,  p.  586. 

3 


34  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Corps  in  his  operations.  He  had  advanced  up  Deer  Creek 
with  five  ironclads,  but  ' '  before  reaching  Rolling  Fork,  had 
found  the  Creek  so  full  of  growing  trees  and  willows  that  his 
progress  was  slower  than  he  had  calculated,  and  the  enemy 
had  begun  further  to  obstruct  his  progress  by  felling  trees  in 
the  channel  and  firing  from  ambush  on  his  working  parties 
when  exposed  on  the  decks  or  on  the  banks  of  the  stream. ' '  ' 
Finding  himself  in  this  exposed  position,  and  being  threat 
ened  with  the  danger  of  losing  his  fleet,  he  called  on  Sherman 
for  assistance.  The  latter  hastened  to  his  aid.  Sherman  in 
person  accompanied  the  division  of  General  Stuart  with  its 
three  brigades,  those  of  Giles  A.  Smith,  T.  Kilby  Smith  and 
Hugh  Ewing.  There  were  no  serious  hostilities  in  the  course 
of  this  expedition,  and  the  consequence  was  but  small  loss 
of  life,  and  eventually  the  fleet  was  extricated  from  its  dan 
gerous  position.  As  a  part  of  the  narrative  of  the  command 
of  T.  Kilby  Smith,  his  report  is  given  in  full  : 

"  HDO.S.  SECOND  BRIG.,  SECOND  Div.,  FIFTEENTH  A.  CM 

CAMP  OPPOSITE  VICKSBURG,  March  27,  1863. 
"SIR: 

1 '  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  report  of  the 
part  taken  by  four  regiments  of  the  Second  Brigade,  under 
my  command,  in  the  late  expedition  in  aid  of  Admiral  Porter. 
(The  55th  Illinois  was  ordered  on  special  service  the  i5th 
instant,  under  command  of  Brigadier-General  Ransom,  and 
did  not  report  back  to  my  command  till  the  26th  instant.) 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  jyth  instant,  the  brigade  was 
embarked  at  Young's  Point  upon  transports,  and,  proceeding 
up  the  Mississippi  River,  landed  at  Eagle  Bend,  from  whence 
a  bridge  and  road  sufficient  for  the  passage  of  infantry  was 
constructed  to  Steele's  Bayou  by  details  from  the  division. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  igth,  the  brigade  was  debarked, 
and,  marching  to  Steele's  Bayou,  bivouacked  near  its  inter 
section  with  Muddy  Bayou.  At  this  time  I  placed  the  com 
mand  with  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rice,  of  the  57th  Ohio,  the 
senior  officer  of  the  brigade,  and,  in  company  with  Generals 
Sherman  and  Stuart,  proceeded  up  Steele's  Bayou  in  a  tug, 

1  Sherman's  Report,   War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  pt.  i.,  p.  434. 


Memoir 


35 


to  reconnoiter  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  transit  of  troops. 
The  bayou  was  tortuous  and  overhung  with  trees,  whose 
branches  seriously  impeded  the  passage  of  transports.  Great 
skill  and  constant  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  navigators 
were  required  to  keep  these  from  irreparable  injury  ;  the 
sinking  of  a  boat  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  expedition 
and  resulted  in  disaster  to  the  gunboat  fleet. 

' '  I  remained  with  General  Stuart,  aiding  him  in  facilitat 
ing  the  embarkation  and  debarkation  of  troops  until  the 
whole  division  was  landed  at  the  mouth  of  Black  Bayou. 
By  misunderstanding  I  was  prevented  from  joining  my  own 
brigade  at  Hill's  Plantation,  two  miles  above,  it  having 
marched  before  my  arrival  at  that  point,  where  I  expected 
to  meet  it  with  the  residue  of  the  troops.  The  brigade, 
therefore,  remained  under  the  command  of  lyieuteriant- 
Colonel  Rice,  to  whose  report,  forwarded  herewith,  I  re 
spectfully  refer  for  its  proceedings  from  the  evening  of  the 
2ist  to  the  morning  of  the  24th  instant.  While  I  was  morti 
fied  at  being  separated  from  my  soldiers,  my  perfect  confi 
dence  in  the  ability  of  this  fine  officer  left  me  no  apprehension 
as  to  his  conduct  of  the  command. 

'  You  will  observe  by  his  report  that,  on  the  morning  of 
the  22d,  the  brigade  marched  up  the  east  bank  of  Deer  Creek, 
and  having,  in  co-operation  with  the  First  Brigade,  extricated 
Admiral  Porter  and  his  gunboats  from  their  perilous  position, 
returned  to  Hill's  Plantation  at  n  A.M.  of  the  24th  instant. 
Here  it  bivouacked. 

' '  At  noon  on  the  25th  instant,  I  ordered  the  83d  Indiana, 
Colonel  Spooner  commanding,  to  take  position  on  Fore's 
Plantation,  a  mile  or  more  distant  from  Hill's,  as  an  advance 
post,  a  body  of  cavalry  and  regiment  of  infantry  from  the 
enemy  making  demonstrations  in  that  direction.  With 
these  a  sharp  skirmish  ensued,  and  Private  William  Lathrop, 
of  Company  G,  83d  Indiana,  was  killed,  the  only  casualty  or 
accident  of  any  kind  I  have  to  report. 

' '  In  the  engagement  the  regiment  sustained  its  high  repu 
tation,  and  for  minute  particulars  I  respectfully  refer  you  to 
the  report  of  then  Captain  (now  Lieutenant- Colonel)  Myers. 

' '  At  the  close  of  evening,  the  83d  was  withdrawn  from  the 


36  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

front,  and  the  following  day  (26th)  the  brigade  was  em 
barked,  with  other  troops,  upon  the  transports  Silver  Wave 
and  Eagle,  and,  after  an  exciting  passage  through  the  bayous 
into  the  Yazoo,  debarked  at  the  lower  landing  of  Young's 
Point  on  the  2yth,  from  whence  it  marched,  in  good  order, 
to  camp  on  the  levee. 

"It  is  usual,  in  reports  of  this  character,  to  compliment 
officers  and  soldiers,  and  because  the  custom  is  common  the 
compliment  loses  value  ;  yet  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  hardy 
veterans  of  the  Second  Brigade,  let  the  opportunity  pass 
without  once  more  testifying  to  the  courage,  constancy,  and 
uncomplaining  fortitude  that  sustains  them  under  every  ex 
posure,  fatigue,  and  privation.  The  whistling  of  bullets  is 
as  familiar  to  their  ears  as  household  words.  Danger  they 
scorn,  and  the  cheerfulness  with  which  they  encounter  hard 
ships  is  beyond  all  praise. 

"  Respectfully  referring  to  the  accompanying  reports  of 
regimental  commanders,  with  request  that  they  be  returned 
at  some  future  time  for  copy,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your 
obedient  servant, 

"Tnos.  KILBY  SMITH, 
"  Col.,  Comdg.  Second  Brig.,  Second  Div., 

' '  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 
11  Capt.  C.  MCDONALD, 

"  A.A.G.,  2d  Div.  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 
Dept.  of  the  Tennessee. ' ' 

The  reports  of  Lieut. -Col.  A.  V.  Rice,  of  the  syth  Ohio, 
who  commanded  the  brigade  during  the  absence  of  Col.  T. 
Kilby  Smith,  and  of  the  other  regimental  commanders  are 
interesting  for  details.  In  that  of  Major  C.  W.  Fisher,  of  the 
54th  Ohio,  there  appears  a  pleasing  incident  of  the  conduct 
of  General  Sherman,  showing  the  comradeship  with  which 
he  treated  his  troops.  Major  Fisher  says  : 

"  I  must  here  mention  the  fact  that  the  Major-General 
commanding  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  was  himself  on  foot 
and  marched  part  of  the  time  at  the  head  of  the  54th  Ohio, 
and  this  exhibition  of  carelessness  of  personal  comfort  on  the 
part  of  one  so  high  in  command,  filled  the  men  with  enthusi- 


Memoir  3  7 

asm,  and  it  is  saying  but  very  little  to  say  that  all  believed 
in  General  Sherman." 

On  returning  from  this  expedition,  an  event  occurred  of 
personal  significance  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Second 
Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  which  no  doubt  filled 
them  with  regret.  General  David  Stuart,  who  had  been 
their  commander  during  all  the  operations  of  the  siege  and 
for  some  time  prior  thereto,  who  had  displayed  his  soldierly 
qualities  from  the  conflict  at  Shiloh,  had  failed  of  confir 
mation  as  brigadier-general  by  the  United  States  Senate. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  reasons  for  the  action  of  that 
body  in  refusing  to  ' '  advise  and  consent ' '  to  the  advance 
ment  of  this  gallant  officer,  the  result  was  to  deprive  the 
army  of  one  of  its  most  efficient  commanders.  General 
Sherman  showed  his  appreciation  by  a  highly  complimen 
tary  order  and  appointed  Major-Gen.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr., 
to  command  the  division  : 

"  General  Orders  \ 
No.  19.  ) 

"  HDQRS.  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  April  4,  1862. 

"  i.  Brig. -Gen.  David  Stuart,  having  been  relieved  from 
duty  with  his  division,  by  special  orders  No.  92,  Head 
quarters  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  April  2,  1863,  Maj.- 
Gen.  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  is  appointed  to  command  the  same, 
and  will  transfer  his  present  brigade  to  the  senior  officer  for 
duty  with  it,  and  assume  command  of  the  Second  Division, 
Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  Headquarters  near  the  centre  of  the 
present  division  camp. 

"2.  In  relieving  General  Stuart  of  the  command  of  the 
Second  Division,  with  which  he  has  been  so  long  identified, 
the  commanding  general  takes  the  opportunity  to  thank  him 
for  his  energetic,  patriotic  and  successful  services.  Ever 
present,  ever  active,  and  by  a  high-toned  spirit  of  honor  and 
dignity  imparting  to  his  troops  a  similar  tone,  he  has  now 
the  deep  respect  and  affection  of  his  men  and  he  elicits  the 
praise  of  all  his  commanders.  Whilst  all  must  yield  to  the 

1  War  Records,  part  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  series  i.,  p.  448. 


38  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

decree  which  separates  us  for  a  time,  all  may  properly  hope 
that  the  services  of  General  Stuart  are  by  no  means  lost  to  a 
cause  which  is  common  to  a  whole  continent,  and  the  success 
of  which  more  interests  coming  generations  than  the  people 
of  the  present  day. 

' '  His  old  comrades  in  arms  wish  him  honor  and  success 
in  life,  and  will  hail  his  return  to  the  colors  which,  for  a 
time,  he  must  leave  to  the  care  of  others. 

"  By  order  of  Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  Commanding. 

"  L.  M.  DAYTON, 
"  Assistant  Adjutant  General."  ' 

Grant  now  determined  upon  a  plan,  which,  for  boldness 
and  success,  was  not  exceeded  in  his  military  career,  and 
which  resulted  in  placing  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  world's 
greatest  soldiers.  His  plan  was  to  attack  Vicksburg  in  the 
rear,  and,  in  order  to  accomplish  this,  to  transport  his  entire 
army  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  at  New  Carthage,  a 
point  below  Vicksburg.  To  this  end,  Admiral  Porter  on  the 
1 6th  of  April,  at  night,  having  protected  the  boilers  of  his 
transports,  ran  the  batteries  in  front  of  Vicksburg,  and,  al 
though  some  of  his  boats  were  injured,  and  one  entirely  con 
sumed,  succeeded  in  getting  the  others  by.  On  the  22d  of 
April,  another  fleet  of  transports  was  sent  down  the  river  and 
passed  the  batteries  with  the  loss  of  but  one  vessel.  The 
inj  ured  transports  were  forthwith  put  in  repair,  and  then  the 
barges  loaded  with  forage  and  rations  got  by  and  the  army  was 
put  on  the  march  overland.  On  the  29th  of  April,  an  attack 
was  made  upon  Grand  Gulf.  This  attack  failing,  a  landing 
was  effected  at  Bruinsburg,  in  Louisiana,  the  gunboats  as 
well  as  the  transports  being  used  to  ferry  the  army  across. 
The  Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  under  command  of  General 
McClernand,  met  the  enemy  at  Port  Gibson,  where,  after  a 
heavy  battle,  the  latter  were  driven  back.  Meantime,  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  under  command  of  General  Sherman,  had 
been  left  alone  to  prevent  General  Pemberton,  the  Confeder 
ate  commander,  from  despatching  any  of  the  army  in  Vicks- 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  iii.,  p.  172. 


Memoir 


39 


burg  to  the  aid  of  the  forces  opposed  to  Grant.  Sherman 
was  directed  to  make  a  demonstration  on  Haines  Bluff  in 
order  to  deceive  Pemberton  and  give  him  the  impression  that 
an  attack  in  force  was  intended.  Having  embarked  his 
Second  Division  on  the  2Qth  of  April,  and  accompanied  by 
the  flag  boat  Black  Hawk  and  several  other  naval  vessels,  he 
proceeded  up  the  Yazoo.  Late  in  the  night  of  April  2gth  he 
was  at  the  mouth  of  Chickasaw,  and  early  the  next  morning 
came  within  easy  range  of  the  enemy's  batteries  and  engaged 
them.  Towards  evening,  he  ordered  the  Second  Division  to 
disembark  in  full  view  of  the  enemy  and  seemingly  prepared 
to  assault,  and  thus  kept  up  appearances  until  night,  when 
the  troops  were  re-embarked,  and  during  the  next  day  simi 
lar  movements  were  made  accompanied  by  reconnoissance  of 
all  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Yazoo.  Orders  were 
then  received  from  General  Grant  to  hurry  forward  to  Grand 
Gulf,  which  in  the  meantime  had  been  evacuated  by  the 
enemy  in  consequence  of  their  losses  at  the  battle  of  Port 
Gibson.  Having  accomplished  the  object  of  his  feint,  Sher 
man  dropped  back  to  camp  at  Young's  Point  without  any 
casualties,  save  a  slight  injury  to  one  man,  and  on  the  next 
morning,  the  ist  of  May,  started  on  his  march,  leaving 
Blair's  division  at  Milliken's  Bend.  Marching  with  great 
rapidity,  he  effected  a  junction  with  the  remainder  of  the  army 
about  the  i3th  of  May,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jackson,  Mis 
sissippi,  and,  after  considerable  fighting,  occupied  that  place, 
and  having  destroyed  the  railroads  and  much  property  of  value 
to  the  enemy,  he  turned  about  towards  Vicksburg.  Blair, 
meanwhile,  had  remained  at  Milliken's  Bend  until  the  morn 
ing  of  the  yth  of  May,  when,  in  obedience  to  orders,  he  started 
his  march  towards  Jackson  with  the  First  and  Second  Bri 
gades,  the  Third  Brigade  being  left  with  Gen.  Hugh  Ewing  at 
Milliken's  Bend  ;  he  arrived  at  Hard  Times,  opposite  Grand 
Gulf,  at  one  o'clock  on  May  loth,  a  distance  by  the  road  of 
sixty-three  miles.  He  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river  on  the 
night  of  the  nth,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i2th,  took  up 
his  march  for  Jackson  and  on  the  evening  of  the  i5th  he 
reached  Raymond.  At  this  point  the  enemy  had  made  a 
stand,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th  a  severe  battle  took 


4<D  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

place.  For  about  three  hours  the  enemy  resisted  the  advance 
of  the  Union  army.  Blair's  division  took  an  active  part  in 
the  defeat  that  was  inflicted  upon  the  troops  commanded  by 
Generals  Gregg  and  Walker  of  the  Confederate  army ;  and 
during  that  day,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  iyth,  about  three 
hundred  prisoners  were  taken.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 7th,  orders  were  received  to  proceed  by  Edwards'  Depot, 
on  the  Black  River  railroad  bridge,  where  the  enemy  had 
made  a  stand,  but  upon  reaching  Edwards'  Depot,  an  order 
was  given  to  proceed  to  Bridgeport.  At  10  A.M.  the  com 
mand  reached  this  point,  and  resistance  being  made  by  a 
small  party  of  the  enemy,  they  were  compelled  to  surrender 
and  a  bridge  was  then  laid  across  the  river  and  the  division 
passed  over  and  bivouacked  for  the  night.  On  the  i8th  of 
May,  the  division  closed  in  with  the  remainder  of  the  army 
about  Vicksburg. 

During  this  short  campaign,  occupying  rather  less  than 
three  weeks,  the  army  under  General  Grant  had  crossed  the 
Mississippi,  had  defeated  the  enerny  with  great  loss  in  the 
battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  and  Jackson,  at  Cham 
pion's  Hill  and  Edwards'  Ferry,  and  now  it  was  determined 
to  make  another  effort  to  carry  the  stronghold  of  Vicksburg 
by  an  assault  from  the  rear. 

On  the  morning  of  the  igth  of  May,  the  entire  line  of 
skirmishers  of  Blair's  division  was  pushed  forward  with  a 
view  of  obtaining  a  closer  position  and  reconnoitering  the 
ground.  In  his  report  General  Blair  says  : 

"  At  2  P.M.  the  signal  was  given  for  an  assault,  and  my 
whole  division  pushed  forward,  and  wherever  the  nature  of 
the  ground  was  not  insuperable,  reached  the  enemy's  en 
trenchments  and  in  several  instances  planted  our  flags  upon 
his  works.  The  2d  Regiment  of  General  Ewing's  brigade, 
the  4th  Virginia,  and  47th  Ohio,  succeeded  in  approaching 
very  near  the  enemy's  works.  The  i3th  U.  S.  Infantry, 
Capt.  E.  C.  Washington,  and  the  n6th  Illinois  Volunteer 
Infantry,  Col.  N.  D.  Tupper,  of  the  First  Brigade,  Col.  Giles 
A.  Smith,  commanding,  pushed  forward  to  the  bastion,  and 
the  1 27th  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  Col.  Hamilton  N.  El- 
dridge,  the  83d  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry,  Col.  Benjamin  J. 


Memoir  4 1 

Spoon er,  of  the  Second  Brigade,  commanded  by  Col.  Thomas 
Kilby  Smith,  also  succeeded  in  reaching  the  same  ground, 
but  the  heavy  fire  of  the  enemy,  who,  not  being  pressed  in 
any  other  quarter,  was  strongly  re-enforced  in  our  front, 
made  it  utterly  impossible  for  them  to  make  a  lodgment  in 
the  works.  They  held  their  positions,  however,  with  the 
utmost  tenacity  until  night,  when  they  withdrew. 

'  The  2oth  and  2ist  were  employed  in  skirmishing  with 
the  enemy,  reconnoitering  the  ground  and  improving  our 
position. 

"  On  the  22d  I  received  an  order  to  renew  the  assault  at 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.1 

"  I  massed  my  division  on  the  ravine  to  the  left  of  the 
Graveyard  road,  where  it  debouches  upon  that  road  as  it 
passes  across  the  valley  immediately  in  front  of  the  bastion. 
A  volunteer  storming  party,  consisting  of  two  officers  and 
fifty  men  from  each  brigade  of  the  division,  was  to  lead  the 
assault.  General  Ewing's  brigade  and  the  brigades  of  Cols. 

1  The  following  were  the  official  orders  : 
General  Field  \ 
Orders,  No.  — .  J 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"  NEAR  VlCKSBURG,  MlSS.,  May  21,  1863. 

"  A  simultaneous  attack  will  be  made  to-morrow  at  ten  o'clock  A.M. 
by  all  the  army  corps  of  this  army.  During  to-day  army  commanders 
will  have  examined  all  practicable  routes  over  which  troops  can  pos 
sibly  pass.  They  will  get  in  position  all  the  artillery  possible  and 
gain  all  the  ground  they  can  with  their  infantry  and  skirmishers,  and 
at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  a  vigorous  attack  will  be  commenced 
by  the  artillery  and  skirmishers.  The  infantry  with  the  exception  of 
musketeers  and  skirmishers  will  be  placed  in  columns  of  platoons  or 
by  a  flank,  if  the  ground  over  which  they  may  have  to  pass  will  not 
admit  of  a  greater  front,  ready  to  move  forward  at  the  hour  desig 
nated.  Promptly  at  the  hour  designated  we  will  start  at  quick  time 
with  bayonets  fixed  and  march  immediately  on  the  enemy  without 
firing  a  gun  until  the  outer  works  are  carried.  The  troops  will  go 
light,  carrying  with  them  only  their  ammunition,  canteens,  and  one 
day's  rations. 

"The  skirmishers  will  advance  as  soon  as  possible  after  heads  of 
columns  pass  them,  and  scale  the  walls  of  such  works  as  may  confront 
them.  If  prosecuted  with  vigor,  it  is  confidently  believed  this  course 
will  carry  Vicksburg  in  a  very  short  time  and  with  very  much  less 


42  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Giles  A.  Smith  and  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  were  to  follow  in 
the  order  in  which  they  are  named,  and  to  charge  across  the 
road  by  the  flank. 

"  At  the  signal,  the  volunteer  storming  party,  led  by  Capt. 

loss  than  would  be  sustained  by  delay.  Every  day's  delay  enables  the 
enemy  to  strengthen  his  defences  and  increases  his  chances  for  re 
ceiving  aid  from  outside. 

"  By  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT, 

JOHN  A.  RAWUNS,  A.  A.  Gen. 
Official,  W.  D.  GREEN,  A.  A.  Gen. 

General        \ 
Orders,  No.  — .  / 

"  HDQRS.  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  CAMP 
"  BEFORE  VlCKSBURG,  May  21,  1863. 

"In  addition  to  the  details  set  forth  in  General  Orders  No.  — .  from 
Headquarters  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  the  following  is  added  : 

"  General  Blair's  and  Tuttle's  divisions  will  assault  along  the  main 
road  by  the  flank,  the  head  of  column  preceded  by  selected  or  volun 
teer  storming  party  of  about  150  men. 

"The  skirmishers  along  the  whole  front  will,  during  the  night, 
advance  within  100  yards  of  the  enemy's  works  and  will,  with  the 
spade  or  axe,  prepare  pits  or  fallen  trees,  so  as  to  give  them  cover, 
from  which  to  kill  artillerists  who  attempt  to  load  the  guns  and  also 
to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  infantry  and  rifle-pits  during 
the  assault.  As  soon  as  the  head  of  column  is  seen  to  enter  the 
works,  these  skirmishers  will  hastily  scale  the  works,  fire  upon  the 
enemy,  and  drive  him  as  far  as  possible. 

"  The  artillery  will  collect  all  the  ammunition  they  can  close  at  hand, 
and  will  begin  at  daylight  to  fire  on  the  enemy's  sally-port,  the  bas 
tions,  and  batteries  that  have  a  fire  on  the  ground  over  which  the 
columns  must  pass,  firing  with  great  care  and  precision,  reserving  in 
their  caissons,  if  possible,  about  100  rounds  of  canister  and  shrapnel, 
for  service  after  passing  the  parapet. 

"  No  wagons  of  any  kind  will  attend  the  assaulting  columns,  but  as 
soon  as  the  infantry  has  passed  inside,  the  artillery  will  follow,  then 
the  ambulances  and  ammunition  wagons,  one  to  a  regiment.  No  other 
wagons  will  enter  the  enemy's  lines  until  we  are  in  full  possession  of 
Vicksburg.  Notice  is  given  to  Division  Commanders  to  call  up  their 
wagons. 

"  Officers  will  assault  on  foot,  but  may  have  their  horses  brought  to 
them  inside  by  their  servants  as  soon  as  the  troops  have  passed  in. 

"General  Steele's  division  will  in  like  manner  attack  by  any  route 
he  may  select, — the  one  to  the  front  of  Thayer  being  suggested. 

"  Bach  column  will  attack  by  the  watch  and  not  depend  on  signals. 


Memoir  43 

John  H.  Groce,  of  General  Ewing's  brigade,  dashed  forward 
in  gallant  style  and  planted  the  flag  of  the  Union,  which  was 
borne  by  Private  Howell  G.  Trogden  of  the  8th  Missouri, 
upon  the  bastion  of  the  enemy.  ...  I  then  ordered  the 
brigade  of  Colonel  Giles  A.  Smith  forward  by  the  same  route 
to  the  left  of  the  road,  as  that  taken  by  the  last  two  regiments 
of  General  Kwing,  and,  as  soon  as  this  brigade  went  forward 

All  must  presume  that  others  are  doing  their  best,  and  do  their  full 
share. 

"  As  soon  as  the  enemy  gives  way,  he  must  be  pushed  to  the  very 
heart  of  the  city,  where  he  must  surrender. 

"  There  is  another  valley  or  bayou  on  the  other  side  of  the  one  now 
separating  us  from  the  enemy.  After  the  enemy  retreats  across  that 
bayou  our  troops  must  follow  at  their  heels  and  not  permit  them  to 
rally  in  an  interior  work. 

"  The  General  now  looks  to  his  corps  to  give  the  world  the  signal 
example  of  steady  courage  and  its  result, — success.  We  must  have 
Vicksburg,  and  most  truly  have  we  earned  it  by  former  sacrifices  and 
labor.  By  order  of 

"  Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"  R.  M.  SAWYER,  A.  A.  Gen. 
"  Official,  W.  D.  GREEN,  A.  A.  Gen. 
"  Col.  THOMAS  KII.BY  SMITH, 

"  Commanding,  Second  Brigade." 

General      \ 
Orders  No.  — .  / 

HEADQUARTERS  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  May  22,  1863. 

1.  General  Blair  will  hold  the  present  ground  in  front  now  occupied 
by  General  Ewing  and  Colonel  Giles  A.  Smith,  and  will  withdraw  the 
other  brigade  to  a  position  of  easy  support. 

2.  General  Tupper  will  dispose  two  of  his  brigades  to  support  the 
batteries  and  hold  the  other  in  reserve  near  the  forks  of  the  road. 

3.  General  Ewing  and  Colonel  Giles  A.  Smith  will  construct  in 
their  front  a  rifle-pit  or  breast-height  of  logs,  and  lay  out  a  covered 
road  to  their  rear  to  be  constructed  as  soon  as  poles  can  be  procured. 

4.  The  artillery  will  hold  its  present  position  and  lose  no  time  or 
effort  in  renewing  their  supplies  of  ammunition. 

5.  Each  regiment  will,  under  cover  of  night,  remove  their  dead  and 
wounded,  inter  the  former  and  remove  the  latter  to  the  hospital. 

By  order  of 

Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 
R.  M.  SAWYER.  (Original  lead-pencil  order). 


44  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

it  was  followed  by  the  brigade  of  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith. 
But  this  route,  while  it  was  better  covered  from  the  fire  of 
the  enemy,  led  through  ravines  made  almost  impassable  with 
abatis  of  fallen  timber,  and  did  not  admit  of  anything  like  a 
charge.  I  therefore  directed  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith  to  go  for 
ward  as  rapidly  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  would  admit, 
and  assault  whenever  he  found  it  practicable  to  do  so,  and 
directed  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  to  follow  close  up  and 
support  any  movement  Colonel  Giles  A.  Smith  should  make. 
Col.  Giles  A.  Smith  pushed  forward  following  the  ravine  to 
the  left  of  the  position  of  General  Kwing,  and  reached  a 
ridge  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  entrench 
ments.  ...  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  these 
brigades  were  able  to  reach  the  positions  which  I  have  re 
ferred  to,  so  difficult  and  toilsome  was  the  nature  of  the 
ground.  .  .  .  Both  brigades  went  forward  with  a  cheer 
when  the  signal  was  given  to  advance,  .  .  .  but  after 
reaching  the  face  of  the  works  of  the  enemy  they  encoun 
tered  a  most  fatal  and  deadly  enfilading  fire  from  the  enemy's 
guns  on  the  left,  which  came  crashing  through  the  ranks, 
while  in  front  they  were  met  by  an  obstinate  resistance  from 
the  entrenched  foe,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  advance.1 

1  It  was  during  a  part  of  this  assault,  probably,  that  the  following 
orders  were  issued  by  Sherman  : 

No.  i.  GEN.  BI^AIR  : — I  am  on  the  hill  behind  you.  Can  see  every  - 
thing.  Gen.  Grant  has  been  here.  He  assures  me  McPherson  is  ad 
vancing  handsomely  and  I  hear  his  fire  steadily  advancing — don't 
mistrust  others.  I  hear  McClernand  also  advancing.  Grant  tells  me 
when  he  was  with  McPherson  he  could  not  hear  any  musketry  fire. 
The  cannon  which  fires  at  you  from  the  high  bastions  to  your  left  is  a 
blank  gun  and  does  not  look  to  McPherson.  I  see  to  the  right  four 
guns  firing  at  McPherson.  Hold  every  foot  of  ground  and  waste  as 
little  ammunition  as  possible.  I  have  plenty  of  ammunition  near  me 
and  by  sending  details  you  can  have  it.  Carry  your  wounded  in  the 
ravines  till  they  can  be  removed.  Remove  the  dead  out  of  sight. 

"No.  2.  I  will  direct  the  artillery  to  fire  when  they  can  without 
killing  our  men,  whose  colors  I  can  plainly  see.  Reserve  Kilby 
Smith  ;  send  him  this  note :  Let  each  brigadier  get  his  brigade  as 
close  to  the  parapet  as  possible.  Wait  developments  but  fail  not 
advantage  of  any  let  up.  McPherson  is  well  up,  I  can  see  the  effect 
of  his  musketry.  General  Grant  has  gone  to  Steele  to  watch  his 


Memoir 


45 


Both  brigades,  however,  maintained  pertinaciously  the 
ground  they  had  won,  and  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith's  brigade 
still  retains  it,  having  fortified  the  position,  and,  under 
orders  the  position  has  been  materially  strengthened  and 
advanced. 

"  I  desire  to  mention  in  terms  of  the  highest  commenda 
tion  the  conduct  of  the  three  officers  commanding  the  bri 
gades  of  my  division  throughout  the  two  affairs  of  the  igth 
and  22d,  and  the  almost  continuous  fighting  which  inter 
vened." 

General  Sherman  endorses  the  report  of  General  Blair,  and 
says  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  : 

*  *  In  reviewing  and  submitting  the  report  of  General  Blair, 
.  .  .  I  take  great  pleasure  in  endorsing  all  he  says  of  the 
conduct  of  his  men  and  officers  during  both  assaults  of  May 
19  and  22,  for,  from  my  position  on  both  days,  I  had  this 
division  in  full  view.  If  any  troops  could  have  carried  and 
held  the  entrenchments  of  Vicksburg,  these  would. ' '  1 

The  losses  sustained  by  the  Second  Division  aggregated 
890  men  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  whereof  the  Second 
Brigade  met  with  the  smallest  loss,  201,  the  Third  with  the 
largest,  386.  As  this  narrative  is  especially  concerned  with 
the  troops  under  the  command  of  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith, 
his  report  of  operations  from  May  6th  to  May  24th,  is  given 
in  full: 

movements.  Where  there  is  no  regular  glacis,  the  nearer  you  are 
to  the  parapet,  the  better  chance  there  is  for  shot  passing  ov.er.  Send 
this  note  to  all  your  brigadiers. 

Yours, 

SHERMAN. 

(Note).  These  relics  of  the  war  are  written  with  lead  pencil  on  the 
back  of  paroles,  wherein  W.  McKay  Perry,  a  private  of  Company  H, 
5th  Regiment,  Mississippi,  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  J.  A.  Barton, 
Corporal  of  Company  I,  5th  Missouri  Volunteers,  C.  S.  A.,  pledge 
their  words  and  honor  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States 
Government  until  they  are  regularly  exchanged,  and  bear  date  May 
17,  1863.  They  are  of  interest  as  showing  how  closely  General  Sher 
man  watched  the  movements  of  his  troops,  and  how  carefully  he 
anticipated  the  exigencies  of  the  battle. 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  ii.,  p.  261. 


46  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  HDQRS.  SECOND  BRIG.,  SECOND  Div.  FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 
"  IN  CAMP  ON  WALNUT  HILLS,  NEAR  VICKSBURG,  May  24. 

' '  MAJOR  :  In  compliance  with  orders  of  even  date,  I  have 
the  honor  to  make  the  following  report  : 

"  The  Second  Brigade  is  composed  of  the  55th  Illinois, 
commanded  by  Col.  Oscar  Malmborg  ;  54th  Ohio,  Lieut.  Col. 
C.  W.  Fisher  ;  57th  Ohio,  Col.  Americus  V.  Rice  ;  83d  In 
diana,  Col.  Benjamin  J.  Spooner  ;  i2yth  Illinois,  Col.  H.  N. 
Eldridge  ;  and  Company  B,  ist  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  Capt. 
S.  E.  Barrett,  a  battery  of  four  6-pounder  brass  field  pieces 
and  two  i2-pounder  howitzers. 

"  On  the  6th  instant,  at  Milliken's  Bend,  I  received  an 
order  from  General  Blair  to  break  up  camp,  and,  with  ten 
days'  rations  and  ammunition,  marching  light,  without  tents 
or  baggage,  take  up  the  line  of  march  for  Grand  Gulf. 

"  On  the  yth,  at  daybreak,  with  the  54th  Ohio,  the  S^d 
Indiana,  and  battery,  we  were  on  the  road,  the  other  three 
regiments  having  been  detached  to  repair  roads  and  bridges 
from  Milliken's  Bend  to  Richmond  and  beyond.  These  were 
picked  up  en  route,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  7th,  the  whole 
brigade  was  closed  in  due  order  of  march,  with  transportation. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  loth,  we  reached  Hard  Times 
Landing,  sixty-five  miles. 

"  On  the  nth,  we  crossed  to  Grand  Gulf. 

"  On  the  1 2th,  resumed  march,  via  Willow  Springs, 
Rocky  Springs,  Cayuga,  and  Auburn,  and  arrived  at  Ray 
mond,  fifty- three  miles,  on  the  i5th,  and  in  the  evening,  one 
mile  from  Raymond,  on  the  road  to  Bolton,  bivouacked  in 
line  of  battle. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  i6th  instant,  having  the  advance 
of  the  division,  and  following  the  command  of  Gen.  A.  J. 
Smith,  I  marched  towards  Edwards'  Station.  Firing  was 
heard  in  front  as  early  as  eight  o'clock.  About  noon  I  re 
ceived  orders  to  hold  my  command  in  readiness  for  an  en 
gagement.  At  one  o'clock  I  found  my  left  resting  on  the 
road,  and  shortly  afterward,  by  order  from  General  Blair, 
moved  by  the  left  flank  of  regiments,  but  without  artillery, 
the  broken  and  woody  nature  of  the  ground  rendering  the 
transit  of  the  pieces  impossible.  I  advanced  three-quarters 


Memoir 


47 


of  a  mile.  Before  I  had  changed  front,  a  battery  from  the 
enemy  opened  fire  upon  me,  and,  by  orders  from  General 
Blair,  I  fell  back  to  near  my  first  position,  where  I  placed 
Captain  Barrett  in  battery,  supporting  him  by  my  entire 
brigade.  Here  we  remained  some  two  hours,  when,  by 
order  from  General  Blair  to  support  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  we 
moved  forward  by  the  left  flank  on  the  road,  the  battery 
following  the  54th  Ohio,  till  we  reached  a  portion  of  General 
A.  J.  Smith's  command,  deployed,  and  under  fire  from  a 
battery,  within  six  hundred  yards.  Here  I  again  formed, 
and  reported  to  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith.  Shortly  afterward,  Gen 
eral  Blair,  in  person,  ordered  me  to  connect  my  lines  with 
those  of  the  First  Brigade,  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith,  which  had 
been  manoeuvring  on  my  right  and  General  Smith's.  This 
was  done  by  flank  and  forward  movement,  and  accomplished 
by  ten  o'clock.  The  men  rested  upon  their  arms  till  day 
break,  when  we  marched  without  opposition  to  Bdwards' 
Station,  the  enemy  having  precipitately  retired  under  cover 
of  the  night,  leaving  the  ground  strewn  with  small  arms  and 
ammunition.  I  omitted  to  mention  that  we  captured  some 
two  hundred  prisoners  during  the  afternoon  and  night. 

"  We  crossed  the  Jackson  Railroad  at  Edwards  Station 
at  9  A.M.,  and  marched  to  Bridgeport,  where  we  joined 
General  Sherman,  and  crossed  Black  River  over  pontoons,  at 
twilight,  and  proceeded  two  miles  upon  the  Vicksburg  Road 
and  bivouacked. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  i8th,  the  Second  Brigade  followed 
the  First  upon  the  road  to  Vicksburg,  until,  arriving  at  a 
point  where  the  road  forked,  within  one  and  one  half  miles 
of  these  headquarters,  I  was  ordered  by  General  Sherman  to 
press  forward  upon  the  Graveyard  road,  and  relieve  the 
Thirteenth  Regulars,  who  were  deployed  as  skirmishers. 
About  four  o'clock  I  formed  in  line  of  battle  within  seven 
hundred  yards  of,  and  opposite  to,  the  enemy's  works,  then, 
however,  veiled  from  my  view  by  the  thick  woods,  and  de 
ployed  seven  companies  of  skirmishers,  the  woods  in  front 
being  filled  with  the  enemy.  Shortly  afterward  General 
Sherman  advanced  in  person.  Within  brief  space  of  time 
General  Steele's  command  was  ordered  upon  my  right,  and 


48  Thomas  Kiiby  SmitJi 

my  line  of  skirmishers  connected  with  him  and  the  forces  of 
General  McPherson,  one  and  one  half  miles  to  my  left. 
Captain  Barrett  was  placed  in  battery  by  Major  Taylor, 
Chief  of  Artillery  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  in  front  and 
centre,  supported  by  two  companies  from  the  55th  Illinois. 

' '  As  night  fell,  I  ordered  the  54th  Ohio,  with  three  com 
panies  from  the  i2yth  Illinois  as  a  reserve,  to  deploy  far  to 
my  left,  with  a  view  of  connecting  with  General  Ransom's 
picket.  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith  meanwhile  had  advanced  and 
relieved  my  pickets  on  the  right.  Thus  we  remained  resting 
on  our  arms  till  daybreak,  when,  by  orders  from  General 
Sherman,  I  threw  the  pickets,  as  skirmishers,  forward  within 
close  range  of  the  enemy,  advancing  the  brigade  in  line  of 
battle  on  either  side  of  what  is  called  the  Graveyard  road, 
leading  to  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  sally-port  in  the  forti 
fications,  the  right  wing,  83d  Indiana  and  i2yth  Illinois  with 
its  left,  the  left  wing,  55th  Illinois  and  54th  Ohio  with  its 
right,  upon  the  road  till  we  reached  the  crest  of  a  hill,  five 
hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  works,  Company  B,  ist 
Illinois  Artillery,  Captain  Barrett,  in  position  in  front,  still 
supported  by  details  from  the  55th  Illinois. 

"At  9  A.M.,  the  signal  being  given  by  Battery  A,  five 
shots  were  fired  to  get  range,  when  a  vigorous  fire  was 
opened  along  the  line,  skirmishers  and  sharpshooters  pouring 
in  most  destructive  volleys  from  sheltered  points  along  the 
range  of  hills  and  close  under  the  parapets. 

"  At  eleven  o'clock  the  following  order  was  received  from 
department  headquarters,  viz  : 

"  '  Corps  commanders  will  push  forward  carefully,  and 
gain  as  close  position  as  possible  to  the  enemy's  works,  until 
2  P.M.  ;  at  that  hour  they  will  fire  three  volleys  of  artillery 
from  all  the  pieces  in  position.  This  will  be  the  signal  for  a 
general  charge  of  all  the  army  corps  along  the  whole  line. 
When  the  works  are  carried,  guards  will  be  placed  by  all 
division  commanders  to  prevent  their  men  from  straggling 
from  their  companies. 

'  By  order  of  Major-General  Grant,  &c.' 

"  At  one  o'clock  I  assembled  my  pickets,  calling  in  the 
54th  Ohio.  A  reconnoissance  of  the  ground  over  wThich  I 


Memoir  49 

should  pass  had  developed  the  fact  that  it  would  be  impos 
sible  to  advance  my  whole  brigade  in  line  of  battle,  the  hills 
and  knobs  being  exceedingly  precipitous,  intersected  by 
ravines  in  three  directions,  the  bottom  treacherous,  filled 
with  sink  holes,  concealed  by  dried  grass  and  cane  ;  the 
whole  covered  by  abatis  of  fallen  timber  from  a  dense  forest 
cut  six  months  or  more  ago,  affording  spikes  and  cheveaux  de 
frise  most  difficult  to  surmount.  The  roadwa}^  alluded  to  is 
cut  and  filled,  slightly  winding  upon  a  ridge  nearly  perpen 
dicular  to  my  line  of  battle,  and  at  its  point  of  intersection 
with  the  fortifications  makes  an  embankment  some  eighteen 
feet  high;  therefore  I  placed  my  right  wing,  83d  Indiana 
and  1 27th  Illinois,  in  command  of  Colonel  Spooner,  its  senior 
officer,  in  whose  ability  and  dauntless  courage  I  repose  the 
fullest  confidence,  on  the  right  of  the  road,  with  instructions 
to  press  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  in  such  order  as 
he  could  best  get  over  the  ground.  I  ordered  Captain  Kili, 
of  Company  K,  54th  Ohio,  to  take  charge  of  his  line  of 
skirmishers,  and  Captain  Moore,  Company  D,  of  the  54th 
Ohio,  brigade  officer  of  the  day  to  aid  him.  I  formed  the 
55th  Illinois  with  its  right  upon  the  road  ;  the  54th  Ohio  on 
line  with  the  55th,  with  orders  to  guide  it  ;  and  the  57th 
Ohio  immediately  in  the  rear  but  not  in  reserve. 

"  At  the  appointed  hour  the  signal  was  given,  and  at  the 
command  '  forward/  the  troops  advanced  gallantly  and 
without  hesitation.  It  was  almost  vain  to  essay  a  line, 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  yet  three  times,  under  a 
most  galling  and  destructive  fire,  did  these  regiments  halt 
and  dress  upon  their  colors  ;  the  nerve  and  self-possession  of 
both  officers  and  men  perfect  ;  not  a  man  flinched  from  his 
post.  Having  advanced  some  four  hundred  yards,  I  dis 
covered  that  the  men  were  thoroughly  exhausted,  and  halted 
the  left  wing  under  the  crest  of  a  hill,  from  sixty-five  to 
seventy-five  yards  from  the  ditch  and  parapet,  and  where 
they  were  comparatively  sheltered  from  the  small  arms  of  the 
enemy.  Returning  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  my  right 
wing,  hid  from  my  view  by  the  embankment  of  the  road,  I 
perceived  their  colors  advanced  to  the  very  base  of  the 
parapet,  and  also  that  my  brigade  was  alone,  unsupported 


50  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

on  the  left  or  right,  save  by  a  portion  of  the  Thirteenth 
Regulars,  who  had  advanced  to  a  position  under  the  parapet, 
near  the  83d  Indiana  and  i2yth  Illinois. 

' '  To  the  left,  as  far  as  I  could  see  (and  from  an  elevated 
point  I  had  great  range),  not  a  soldier  to  be  seen,  and  only 
an  occasional  puff  of  smoke  from  the  rifle  of  a  sharpshooter, 
concealed  far  away  among  the  hills,  revealed  the  fact  that 
we  had  friends  near  us  outside  of  our  division.  Therefore, 
I  determined  to  halt  my  command,  report,  and  wait  for 
further  orders,  especially  as  from  the  position  of  my  left  wing 
occupied  (that  which  General  Kwing  is  now  fortifying)  great 
execution  could  be  done  by  my  men  upon  the  sharpshooters 
of  the  enemy,  who,  from  the  trees  close  behind  the  works, 
were  picking  off  our  officers  with  devilish  skill. 

' '  Returning  to  the  front,  I  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  Gen 
eral  Blair  with  report.  I  received  in  answer  orders  from 
General  Sherman  '  to  get  my  men  as  close  to  the  parapet  as 
possible,  and  be  ready  to  jump  in  when  they  began  to  yield,' 
coupled  with  the  assurance  that  McPherson  was  well  en 
gaged,  and  that  General  Grant  was  on  the  ground,  and  that 
the  artillery  of  the  enemy,  which  began  to  enfilade  us,  would 
be  silenced. '  I  ordered  my  men  to  cease  firing  and  fix  bayo 
nets,  with  intent  to  charge,  when,  upon  closer  view,  I  dis 
covered  the  works  too  steep  and  high  to  scale  without  proper 
appliances  ;  a  few  men  could  have  been  got  over  by  the  aid 
of  a  ladder  of  bayonets  or  digging  holes  in  the  embankment, 
but  these  would  have  gone  to  destruction.  I  could  not  make 
a  demonstration  with  my  isolated  command  that  would  have 
resulted  permanently  ;  therefore  I  determined  to  maintain 
the  position  and  await  developments.  The  sequel  to  the 

1  KII.BY  SMITH  : 

Gen.  Grant  is  here.  He  says  McPherson  is  well  engaged.  When 
there  he  could  not  hear  our  fire.  Never  mind  the  artillery. 

Ammunition  is  being  brought  just  to  rear  of  Battery.  Caution  your 
men  not  to  fire  too  much.  Steele  is  also  working  forward.  Get  your 
men  as  close  to  the  parapet  as  possible  and  be  ready  to  jump  in  when 
they  begin  to  yield.  Blair  is  along  his  line. 

SHERMAN. 

Col.  T.  K.  SMITH, 

On  the  Field. 


Memoir  5 1 

attempt  at  assault  is  my  guarantee  for  the  course  I  pursued. 

"  Meanwhile  details  were  ordered  back  and  ammunition 
furnished  in  abundance  ;  the  most  accurate  marksmen  were 
thrown  forward  with  carte  blanche  to  select  the  best  cover. 
Companies  were  advanced  from  each  regiment  and  relieved 
as  ammunition  gave  out  or  guns  became  foul.  A  most 
deadly  fire  was  kept  up,  and  none  of  the  enemy  ventured 
his  head  above  the  wall  who  failed  to  pay  the  penalty.  At 
the  same  time  the  right  wing,  with  stern  determination, 
maintained  their  ground.  Their  loss  had  been  fearful,  fall 
ing  upon  their  best  line  and  non-commissioned  officers. 
Captain  after  captain  had  been  shot  dead  ;  field  officers  were 
falling  ;  still,  there  was  no  flinching.  I  communicated 
through  my  aides. 

"  As  night  fell,  I  received  a  verbal  order,  through  an  un 
usual  source,  to  fall  back  to  my  original  position.  This 
order  was  in  immediate  conflict  to  two  received  from  General 
Sherman,  and  gave  me  no  little  surprise.  I  had  won  by 
severe  loss  the  best  position  to  fortify  in  our  whole  front. 
Already  I  had  made  arrangements  to  plant  batteries  upon 
the  hill  I  occupied.  Reluctantly  I  left  the  command  with 
Colonel  Rice,  Colonel  Malmborg,  senior  officer,  having  been 
most  painfully  wounded  in  the  eye,  and  went  back  in  person 
for  report  and  explanation. 

"  At  General  Blair's  headquarters  I  received  the  following 
written  orders  : 

"  '  Brigade  commanders  will  collect  the  forces  of  their  re 
spective  regiments,  and  occupy  the  last  ground  from  which 
they  moved  to  the  assault  to-day,  where  their  men  will  be 
well  covered,  advancing  a  line  of  skirmishers  as  near  as  pos 
sible  to  the  enemy's  works,  for  the  purpose  of  occupying  his 
attention.  They  will  be  prepared  to  assault  at  daybreak  in 
the  morning. 

"  '  By  order  of  Maj.-Gen.  F.  P.  Blair,  &c.' 

' '  At  this  time  it  had  become  quite  dark,  when  suddenly 
the  whole  scene  was  brilliantly  lighted  by  the  flames  of  cer 
tain  wooden  houses  within  the  works,  ignited  by  simultane 
ous  action  of  the  enemy  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  our 
change  of  movement.  This  purpose  had  been  anticipated 


5  2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

by  Colonel  Spooner,  who,  with  skill  and  good  judgment, 
withdrew  from  the  ditch  beneath  the  parapet  to  shelter.  A 
few  moments  later,  and  hand-grenades  and  the  grave  would 
have  been  supper  and  bed  for  his  men. 

(<  In  pursuance  of  the  last  order,  I  quietly  withdrew  my 
command  by  details.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  they 
were  in  their  old  position. 

"  Here  we  remained  till  the  morning  of  the  22d  instant, 
when  orders  issued  to  all  the  army  corps  for  a  simultaneous 
attack  were  received.  My  instructions  were  to  march  by  the 
right  flank  down  the  road  before  mentioned,  following  the 
First  Brigade,  the  right  of  the  division  being  led  by  Brigadier- 
General  Ewing,  commanding  the  Third  Brigade,  by  right  of 
rank,  the  position  of  my  brigade  being  upon  the  left  ;  a 
storming  party  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  precede. 
Volunteers  of  fifty  were  called  from  each  brigade,  and 
promptly  furnished  pro  rata  of  regiments.  Of  these  I  have 
occasion  to  report  hereafter. 

"  As  soon  as  the  First  Brigade  had  formed,  I  closed  behind 
it  in  the  following  order  of  regiments  :  55th  Illinois,  83d 
Indiana,  57th  Ohio,  i2yth  Illinois,  and  54th  Ohio,  moving 
forward  through  a  winding  and  covered  roadway,  constructed 
through  the  ravines  near  my  line  the  night  previous. 

' (  As  we  emerged  upon  the  high  ground  from  the  cover  of 
the  woods  and  hills,  I  discovered  that  the  programme  had 
been  changed.  Instead  of  a  dense  column  marching  by  the 
flank  down  the  road,  as  I  had  expected,  the  ground  I  had 
passed  over  in  the  first  assault  on  the  igth  instant  was  cov 
ered  by  scattered  masses.  The  flag  of  General  Ewing  was 
flying  from  the  hills  from  which  I  had  been  withdrawn.  I 
reported  in  person  to  General  Blair,  and  received  an  order  to 
support  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith,  who  was  endeavoring  to  make 
a  position  somewhere  between  General  Ewing  and  General 
Ransom.  This  movement  I  could  not  have  anticipated. 
Nevertheless,  discovering  cover,  and  knowing  the  ground 
well,  I  threw  the  brigade  in  column  of  regiments,  and,  by 
regiments,  moved  rapidly  over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  massing 
them  as  best  I  could  under  cover  from  the  enemy's  musketry 
and  a  Whitworth  gun,  waspish  in  its  annoyance. 


Memoir  5  3 

' {  They  went  over  under  heavy  fire,  but  fortunately,  owing 
to  the  promptitude  and  gallantry  of  the  men,  without  having 
one  killed  or  wounded,  the  volleys  in  each  instance  passing 
over  their  heads.  Thence,  by  filing  down  a  long  ravine  that 
skirts  the  main  chain  of  bluff's,  I  overtook  and  again  massed 
by  column  of  regiments  in  the  rear  of  the  8th  Missouri,  of 
the  First  Brigade,  which  had  the  most  advanced  position. 
Shortly  I  threw  out  the  55th  Illinois  in  line  with  the  8th 
Missouri,  and  communicated  with  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith  in 
person.  His  report  will  suffice  for  the  operations  of  that 
afternoon. 

11  I  maintained  the  position  till  ten  o'clock  the  following 
morning,  when,  by  intimation  from  Col.  Giles  A.  Smith  that 
orders  had  been  issued  to  that  effect,  I  fell  back  to  the  posi 
tion  now  occupied  by  the  troops,  and  reported  in  person  to 
General  Blair  for  further  orders. 

' '  I  shall  make  no  apology  for  undue  length  of  my  report, 
nor  stint  with  measured  praise  the  meed  of  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  Second  Brigade.  I  only  regret  my  own  inability 
of  language  to  do  them  full  justice.  With  Colonel  Malm- 
borg,  of  the  55th  Illinois,  I  have  been  side  by  side  in  several 
battles  ;  have  stood  with  him  literally  amid  heaps  of  slain. 
He  is  always  cool,  prudent,  and  of  dauntless  courage,  and  in 
the  recent  engagement,  although  wounded  twice,  and,  by 
strange  fatality,  first  in  the  right  and  next  in  the  left  eye, 
displayed  these  qualities  with  the  ardor  and  cheer  so  neces 
sary  in  a  charge. 

"  Lieutenant- Colonel  Chandler  and  Major  Hefferman,  of 
the  same  regiment,  were  constantly  in  the  front  ranks,  doing 
their  full  duty  with  high  bearing,  setting  a  brave  example 
for  their  men. 

' '  Colonel  Fisher,  ever  ready,  zealous,  and  watchful,  keep 
ing  his  men  well  in  hand,  led  his  charge  most  gallantly. 
His  flag  was  foremost.  He  sought  no  shelter  save  under  its 
folds. 

' '  Colonel  Rice  maintained  his  position  exactly  and  handled 
his  regiment  as  he  would  upon  review — calm,  collected,  but 
full  of  daring.  Should  his  severe  wound  prove  fatal,  as  is 
feared,  the  service  will  suffer  irreparable  loss. 


54  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  Colonel  vSpooner  has  displayed  in  this  last  campaign 
soldierly  qualities  of  the  highest  order.  Indefatigable  in  his 
zeal  for  the  welfare  of  his  men,  he  fights  them  as  he  handles 
them  upon  the  march.  Always  alert  and  ready,  he  can  well 
share  with  them  his  own  laurels.  What  I  have  said  of  Colonel 
Spooner  equally  applies  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Myers  ;  both 
scorn  danger  and  both  have  skill  to  apply  their  courage. 

"  Colonel  Kldridge  won  for  himself  a  conspicuous  place. 
Among  so  many  heroes  it  is  hard  to  be  distinguished  ;  yet 
he  was  first  with  the  foremost.  The  richest  honors  of  a 
grateful  country  should  be  showered  upon  him. 

' '  The  following  list  of  line  officers  I  make  special  mention 
of  for  courage,  and  not  only  for  courage,  but  patient  fortitude 
and  endurance  of  horrible  heat  in  the  ravines  and  hillsides, 
and  fatigue  ;  exposed  by  night  and  day  on  pickets  and  with 
advanced  companies  of  skirmishers,  unmurmuring,  uncom 
plaining,  only  careful  that  their  soldiers  should  suffer  as  little 
as  possible.  I  make  special  mention  of  Major  Frank  S. 
Curtiss,  of  the  i2yth  Illinois,  who  exhibited  courage  and 
great  zeal  during  the  first  assault  particularly.  He  was 
ever  in  the  foremost  ranks,  and  even  exceeded  his  duty  in 
assisting  soldiers  with  their  guns  when  from  frequent  firing 
they  became  foul  ;  also  of  Captain  Barrett  and  his  admirable 
battery.  His  guns  were  splendidly  served.  He  and  his 
company  are  veterans,  and  have  won  imperishable  honor  on 
many  a  hard-fought  field.  His  discipline  and  drill  are 
perfect. 

"  Lieut. -Col.  Samuel  R.  Mott  took  command  of  the  57th 
Ohio  after  Colonel  Rice  had  been  carried  wounded  from  the 
field.  He  handled  his  regiment  with  consummate  skill  and 
daring,  proving  that  he  was  well  worthy  of  his  recent  pro 
motion. 

"  I  desire  to  compliment  Capt.  G.  M.  White,  my  acting 
assistant  adjutant-general,  and  my  aides-de-camp,  Lieuts. 
John  Enoch,  of  the  54th  Ohio,  and  Edward  E.  Root,  of  the 
57th  Ohio,  and  to  express  n\\  obligations  to  Captain  Gillett, 
of  the  1 27th  Illinois  Volunteers,  and  Lieutenant  Dorchester, 
of  Thielemann's  Cavalry,  who  were  my  volunteer  aides. 
Each  one  of  these  discharged  his  duty  with  the  utmost 


Memoir  5  5 

promptness  and  gallantry.  Kach  one  is  intelligent,  brave, 
and  meritorious.  I  have  to  regret  that  I  do  not  possess  the 
power  to  advance  them,  but  earnestly  commend  their  pro 
motion,  and  ask  that  the  commanding  general  secure  it.  I 
also  mention  the  names  of  my  orderlies,  James  I,.  Sherer  and 
Henry  Leibrant,  as  worthy  of  great  commendation  for  faith 
fulness  and  courage. 

* '  Herewith  I  submit  a  list  of  the  casualties  in  battle, 1  and 
with  request  to  hereafter  make  a  supplementary  report,  inas 
much  as  commanding  officers  of  the  regiment  and  batteries 
composing  my  brigade,  having  been  ordered  from  the  battle 
field  upon  the  march,  have  had  no  opportunity  to  make 
formal  report,  and  respectfully  calling  attention  to  the  re 
ports  of  commanding  officers  of  the  storming  party,  Colonel 
Malmborg,  lieutenant-Colonels  Mott  and  Fisher,  now  filed. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  highest  respect,  your 
obedient  servant, 

11  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH, 
"  Col.  Comdg.  Second  Brig.,  Second  Div., 

"  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 
"  Maj.  W.  D.  GREEN,  Assistant  Adjutant- General." 

The  report  of  Colonel  Fisher  of  the  54th  Ohio,  contains  a 
graphic  description  of  the  part  borne  by  that  regiment,  and 
he  pays  tribute  to  his  commander,  who  was  acting  brigadier, 
in  the  following  language  : 

' '  Colonel  T.  Kilby  Smith  was  on  the  field  in  both  engage 
ments,  and  displayed  the  same  reckless  personal  bravery 
for  which  he  has  long  since  distinguished  himself."  2 

Sherman's  corps  were  roughly  handled  by  the  defenders 
of  Vicksburg,  and  their  experiences  were  not  more  severe 
than  those  of  either  McClernand  or  McPherson,  who  made 
the  effort  simultaneously  with  them.  McClernand,  under 
the  false  impression  that  some  of  his  brigades  had  succeeded 
in  capturing  important  defences  of  the  enemy,  sent  word  to 
that  effect  to  General  Grant,  and,  calling  for  re-inforcements, 
Grant  ordered  McPherson  and  Sherman  to  renew  the  assault 

1  Nominal  list,  omitted,  embraced  in  revised  statements. 

2  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  ii.,  p.  279. 


56  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

at  a  time  when,  if  the  mistake  had  not  been  made,  the  loss 
would  have  been  much  less.     Grant  says  : 

"  I  attempted  to  carry  the  place  by  storm  on  the  22d,  but 
was  unsuccessful.  Our  troops  were  not  repulsed  from  any 
point,  but  simply  failed  to  enter  the  works  of  the  enemy. 
At  several  points  they  got  up  to  the  parapets  of  the  enemy's 
forts  and  planted  their  flags  on  the  outer  slope  of  the  embank 
ments,  where  they  still  have  them.  The  assault  was  made 
simultaneously  by  the  three  army  corps  at  10  A.M.  The  loss 
on  our  side  was  not  very  heavy  at  first,  but,  receiving  re 
peated  despatches  from  General  McClernand,  saying  that  he 
was  hard  pressed  on  his  right  and  left,  calling  for  reinforce 
ments,  I  gave  him  all  of  McPherson's  corps  but  four  brigades, 
and  caused  Sherman  to  press  the  enemy  on  our  right,  which 
caused  us  to  double  our  losses  for  the  day.  The  whole  loss 
for  the  day  will  probably  reach  1500,  killed  and  wounded."  ' 

No  substantial  success  repaid  the  carnage  of  this  terrific 
battle.  The  attacking  army  had  put  forth  its  full  strength  and 
had  been  aided  by  the  fleet  under  Porter  ;  but  it  was  not  pos 
sible  for  human  effort  to  have  been  successful  against  works 
so  well  garrisoned,  so  impregnably  strong,  and  so  valiantly 
defended  :  the  Union  army  recoiled  with  a  loss  of  almost 
three  thousand  men,  and  General  Grant  made  up  his  mind 
there  was  but  one  way  to  capture  Vicksburg,  and  that  was 
by  a  regular  siege. 

Colonel  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been 
performing  the  duties  of  brigadier  during  all  the  operations 
attendant  upon  the  movement  against  Vicksburg.  He  had 
been  clothed  with  that  responsibility  in  his  first  battle  more 
than  a  year  past,  and  his  superior  officers  had  not  failed  to 
commend  him  in  official  reports  and  by  private  testimony. 
In  a  letter  to  his  mother,  General  Sherman  wrote  as  follows  : 

1  Grant  to  Halleck,  May  24,  1863,  War  Rec.,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv., 
part  i.,  p.  37.  He  animadverted  severely  upon  McClernand,  and 
eventually  that  officer  was  relieved  of  his  command. 


Memoir  5  7 

"  HDQRS.,  RIGHT  WING,  MEMPHIS, 

"  December  14,  1862. 
"  Mrs.  ELIZA  B.  SMITH, 

"  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

"  DEAR  MADAM:  Yours  of  December  Qth,  is  received,  and 
I  have  sent  the  letter  for  your  son,  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  to 
him  at  his  camp  on  the  outskirts  of  Memphis.  .  .  .  We 
are  now  back  at  Memphis,  and  soon  embark  for  lower  down. 
Your  son  is  in  splendid  health  and  spirits  ;  always  cheerful 
and  ready  to  serve  his  country.  His  past  military  career 
must  be  to  you  a  source  of  pride,  and,  whatever  the  future 
has  in  reserve  for  us,  you  will  have  reason  to  feel  satisfied 
with  him. 

"  I  am  rejoiced  that  Mrs.  Sherman  saw  you,  for  she  could 
tell  what  I  cannot  write. 
"  I  am,  with  great  respect, 

' '  Your  servant, 

"W.T.SHERMAN, 
11  Maj.-Gen." 

It  was  but  natural  that  his  family  and  his  friends  should 
feel  an  ambition  that  the  military  services  of  Colonel  Smith 
should  meet  with  official  reward  :  the  only  reward  that  a 
soldier  can  properly  aspire  to, — promotion,  to  the  grade  he 
has  won.  So  long  as  this  promotion  was  withheld,  he  was 
liable  to  be  superseded  in  the  command  of  his  veteran  brigade 
by  any  newly  made  brigadier  who  might  be  assigned  to  the 
division.  Accordingly  the  subject  of  his  promotion  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  his  commanding  officers  as  soon 
as  his  military  career  warranted  the  appeal.  In  replying  to 
one  of  Mrs.  Smith's  letters,  General  Sherman  wrote  : 

"  HDQRS.  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"  CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  Feb.  18,  1863. 

"  Mrs.  ELIZA  B.  SMITH, 

"  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

1 '  DEAR  MADAM  :  Your  note  of  February  3d  is  received.  I 
have  borne  official  testimony  to  the  gallantry,  courage,  and 
zeal  of  your  son  on  several  occasions,  and  will  do  all  that  I 
can  that  he  may  receive  the  reward  a  soldier  covets  and 


58  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

which  his  family  and  friends  have  a  right  to  expect.  I  know 
that  I  am  either  behind  or  ahead  of  the  times  in  sparing 
praise  which,  degenerating  into  adulation  or  flattery,  offends 
a  proud  and  conscientious  gentleman.  I  am  not  one  of  those 
who  fear  that  this  war  will  cease  before  all  are  gratified  with 
the  full  measure  of  military  fame  and  glory.  I  know  our 
enemy,  and  think  I  know  enough  of  the  deep-seated  causes 
of  this  war,  to  feel  confident  that  every  ambitious  man  will 
have  ample  opportunity  to  reap  fame  and  distinction.  To 
your  son  and  others  in  whom  I  have  felt  a  special  interest,  I 
have  ever  counselled  patience  :  '  Go  on  ;  watch  the  develop 
ments  of  war  ;  study  it  ;  learn  from  the  experience  of  others 
the  true  art  ;  knowledge,  experience,  and  true  merit  in  time 
will  be  worth  more  than  rank.'  The  old  leaven  of  party 
politics  is  so  deeply  implanted  in  the  American  heart,  time  is 
necessary  to  eradicate  it,  but  it  will  be  eradicated,  and  the 
soldier  who,  by  close  observation,  by  experience,  and  by  real 
courage  has  gained  a  reputation  among  his  fellow  soldiers, 
will  be  called  out  to  lead  regardless  of  the  mere  rank  con 
ferred  for  political  reasons  or  newspaper  fame.  The  man 
who  is  to  lead  our  country  out  of  anarchy  and  chaos  may  be, 
as  Napoleon,  a  captain  still,  and  no  one  should  covet  honor 
too  early.  With  this  honest  conviction,  I  have  not  pushed 
forward  the  young  and  ambitious  soldiers  who  have  looked 
to  me  for  counsel  and  advice.  Still,  as  you  and  others  who 
have  a  right  to  act,  wish  to  advance  Colonel  T.  Kilby  Smith, 
you  may  count  on  my  hearty  co-operation.  His  record  is 
perfect,  his  habits  excellent ;  his  health  good  ;  his  bravery  a 
little  rash  ;  his  judgment  good,  and  all  he  needs  is  hard 
study  of  books  and  men — I  mean,  of  course,  military  text 
books,  and  men  who  compose  large  armies.  He  has  com 
manded  a  brigade  and  now  commands  one,  and  naturally,  he 
should  be  commissioned  as  a  brigadier.  It  is  improper  for 
me  to  write  to  the  President  direct,  because  I  know  he  is 
overwhelmed  with  care  and  labor,  and  it  would  be  presump 
tuous  in  me  to  suppose  him  influenced  by  my  recommenda 
tion,  further  than  as  contained  in  my  official  reports.  I 
therefore  enclose  a  letter  to  my  brother  John,  which  you  can 
use  according  to  the  judgment  of  your  friends.  Excuse  so 


Memoir 


59 


long  a  letter,  but  believe  me,  with  great  respect,  one  who 
will  always  take  a  pleasure  in  sustaining  the  glory  of  our 
country  and  the  true  interests  of  all  committed  to  my  care. 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"  Maj.-Gen." 
His  letter  to  his  brother  was  as  follows  : 

"  CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  Feb.  18,  1863. 

"  Hon.  JOHN  SHERMAN, 
"  Washington,  D.  C. 

* '  DEAR  BROTHER  :  I  have  been  a  little  slow  in  pushing 
forward  the  young  and  ambitious  officers  in  my  command, 
because  I  have  been  more  anxious  that  they  should  perfect 
themselves  in  true  knowledge  and  experience,  than  in  get 
ting  rank.  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  of  Cincinnati,  joined  me 
at  Paducah  in  Feb.  last,  and  has,  therefore,  attended  me  in 
all  my  devious  movements  for  the  past  year.  Never  absent 
one  day.  At  Shiloh  he  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
brigade  on  the  disabling  of  his  senior,  Colonel  Stuart,  and  I 
think  in  my  report  I  mentioned  how  handsomely  he  acted. 
In  several  small  actions,  as  we  approached  Corinth,  he  was 
ever  on  hand,  and,  more  recently,  at  Chickasaw  and  Arkan 
sas  Post,  he  actually  commanded  a  brigade,  and  in  each 
case  he  bore  himself  well,  almost  too  conspicuously.  I 
honestly  think  that  services  on  the  battlefield,  or  wherever 
his  men  are,  should  be  one  of  the  reasons  for  promotion  ; 
but  I  am  sorry  to  observe,  in  the  long  lists  published,  that 
the  old  maxim  holds  good  :  '  One  campaign  at  Court 
(Washington)  is  worth  five  in  the  Field.'  By  this  time, 
the  country  must  be  convinced  that  war,  and  war  alone,  can 
restore  the  just  power  of  the  Government,  and  the  first  step 
must  be  in  recognizing  military  service  in  the  Field,  and  in 
encouraging  those  who  seek  the  enemy  in  the  South  and  not 
at  Chicago.  When  you  observe  this  change,  I  beg  you  will 
assist  the  friends  of  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith  in  being  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  the  command  of  which  he 
now  exercises,  only  liable  to  be  displaced  by  the  arrival  of 
some  new  appointee  who  may  not  have  smelt  gunpowder  or 
heard  a  bullet  in  earnest. 


60  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  My  official  reports  on  file   in  the   Adjutant- General's 
office  will  always  form  the  basis  of  a  recommendation. 
"  Affectionately, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

Such  was  the  testimony  of  the  corps  commander.  Cer 
tainly  not  less  grateful  to  the  feelings  of  a  true  soldier,  and 
not  less  weighty  in  distinguishing  his  merit,  is  the  opinion 
of  those  who  were  closest  to  him  and  under  his  responsible 
direction  in  so  many  campaigns  and  desperate  actions.  As 
early  as  the  24th  of  April,  1863,  the  following  paper  had  been 
prepared  and  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  54th  Ohio  and  83d 
Indiana  regiments  at  least,  and  no  doubt  it  was  the  intention 
to  secure  the  signatures  of  the  other  officers  of  the  regiments 
under  his  command,  but  the  paper  would  seem  to  have  been 
considered  unmilitary,  and  was  probably  not  presented.  It 
is  given,  however,  as  an  indication  of  the  feeling  of  his  sub 
ordinate  officers  : 


"  SECOND  BRIGADE,  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"  YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  April  24,  1863. 
11  R.  M.  SAWYER, 

"A.  A.  Gen. 

"SiR:  Under  General  Orders  No.  86,  issued  from  the 
War  Department  April  2,  1863,  Col.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith, 
Comd'g  Second  Brigade,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  may  at  any 
moment  be  mustered  out  of  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  reason  that  his  regiment  the  54th  Ohio  Vols.  does  not 
now  reach  one  half  the  maximum  number  prescribed  by  law. 
We  understand  that  an  attack  will  be  made  upon  the  city  of 
Vicksburg  in  a  few  days,  and  as  officers  of  said  brigade,  we 
beg  leave  to  say  that  we  desire  to  go  into  this  fight  under 
the  immediate  command  of  Col.  Smith,  and  trust,  that 
whether  mustered  out  or  not  he  may  be  permitted  to  lead  his 
old  brigade.  We  hope  this  communication  will  not  be  re 
garded  as  ill-timed  or  unmilitary. 

"  Respectfully." 

The  following  paper  bears  testimony  of  the  affection  of  his 


Memoir  6 1 

subordinate  officers,  and  the  approval  of  his  superiors,  and 
was  forwarded  to  Washington  : 

"  YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  BEFORE  VICKSBURG, 

"  March  I,  1863. 

' '  GENERAL  : 

"  Impressed  by  a  strong  conviction  that  we  owe  to  the 
services  of  a  zealous  officer,  a  true  and  faithful  man  and  a 
gallant  soldier,  our  comrade  in  arms,  under  whom  we  are 
serving  with  confidence  and  pleasure,  an  expression  of  our 
appreciation  of  his  merits  and  deservings,  we  take  the  liberty 
(not  generally  approved,  yet  one  we  feel  assured  you  will  not 
criticise)  of  addressing  you  as  our  appropriate  medium  in 
seeking  the  accomplishment  of  our  wishes. 

' '  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Second  Brigade  think 
Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  of  the  54th  Ohio,  now  command 
ing  the  brigade,  ought  to  be  promoted.  He  has  been  upward 
of  a  year  and  a  half  in  service,  having  never  for  a  day  nor 
an  hour  been  absent  from  his  command. 

"  His  regiment  formed  one  of  your  old  division,  with 
which  you  fought  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  made  the  advance  on 
Corinth,  and  commanded  from  that  day  to  this — with  that 
division,  we  say,  you  fought,  mainly,  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 

"  It  claims  for  its  record  the  testimonial  of  Major-General 
Halleck — '  To  General  Sherman,  more  than  to  any  other 
officer,  are  we  indebted  for  repulsing  the  enemy  on  Sunday, 
and  greatly  for  the  glorious  victory  on  Monday. ' 

"It  is  considered  that  Colonel  Smith  was  conspicuous 
amongst  your  officers  for  his  gallantry  on  that  occasion. 
Numerous  promotions  were  made  for  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
but  not  one  from  your  division.  We  were  content  and  satis 
fied  by  the  distinction  bestowed  on  you,  for  it  was  reflected 
on  us.  In  the  march  on  Corinth  we  were  constantly  in  the 
advance.  Colonel  Smith  was  ever  foremost  and  never  de 
ficient. 

( '  In  the  affair  before  Vicksburg  (at  Chickasaw  Bayou)  no 
officer  in  the  field  was  more  conspicuous  for  his  zeal,  bravery, 
gallantry  and  indifference  to  danger  or  his  own  repose  or 
comfort  than  Colonel  Smith. 

"  It  did  not  escape  the  observation  of  the  division  that  no 


62  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

officer  was  more  constantly  or  actively  employed,  or  more 
efficient  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  him,  than  he. 

' '  At  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  Colonel  Smith  led  the  brigade 
and  commanded  it  in  the  fight— certainly  with  equal  gal 
lantry  with  any  officer  in  the  field  and  with  all  the  skill 
which  the  position  involved  or  the  occasion  called  for,  or 
which  any  other  officer  exercised. 

' (  Our  intercourse  with  him  since  he  has  been  in  command 
of  the  brigade,  has  commanded  our  respect  and  confidence 
in  him  as  an  officer,  our  esteem  and  regard  for  him  as  a  gen 
tleman,  and  our  interest  for  him  as  our  friend.  Whilst  in 
other  divisions  numerous  high  promotions  of  officers,  very 
far  Colonel  Smith's  juniors  in  rank,  have  been  made  (made, 
no  doubt,  for  services  performed,  yet  which  it  was  never  our 
fortune  to  observe  or  hear  of)  we  have  to  suggest,  yet  with 
out  complaint,  that  we  believe  but  one  promotion  in  our  old 
division,  has  been  made — that  of  Colonel  Stuart,  55th  Illinois, 
who  was  but  recently  made  Brigadier. 

1 '  We  are  proud  (though  personally  we  may  suffer  tempor 
arily  as  a  consequence)  to  believe  and  know  that  we  are  not 
overlooked  because  our  division  is  comparatively  deficient  in 
merit,  but  rather  because  our  commanding  general  insists 
upon  a  higher  and  worthier  standard  of  qualifications,  than 
obtains  in  the  volunteer  service  of  the  country,  east  or  west. 
We  accept  it  not  only,  but  conform  to  it  cheerfully,  and  will 
abide  our  own  time,  and  the  result  of  our  achievements. 

(  Yet  we  respectfully  urge,  that  our  commanding  officer, 
in  whose  behalf  we  respectfully  solicit,  his,  and  our  com 
manding  general's  recommendation,  quite  comes  up  to  the 
standard  which  he  has  himself  by  his  recommendations 
established,  and  far  surpassed  that  which  is,  and  has  been 
accepted  in  most  of  the  promotions  made,  at  least,  from  the 
Western  Army. 

'  These  considerations  (amongst  others)  expressed  as  con 
cisely  as  we  can,  have  induced  the  undersigned  officers  of  the 
Second  Brigade  in  the  Second  Division  of  your  Army  Corps 
to  solicit  you  to  ask  the  promotion  of  Colonel  Smith,  or  to 
forward  with  your  favorable  endorsement,  through  the  proper 
military  channel,  this  our  communication,  which  in  that 


Memoir  63 

event  we  pray  may  be  accepted  as  our  representation  and  re 
quest  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

' '  We  are  very  respectfully, 

"Your  obed'tServ'ts." 

This  paper  was  signed  by  all  the  regimental  officers  of  the 
command. 

General  Stuart  endorses  this  memorial  as  follows  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  2D  Div., 

"  5th  March,  1863. 

"  I  cordially  endorse  the  within  recommendation  of  the 
officers  of  Colonel  Smith's  brigade.  In  my  official  report  of 
the  battle  at  Post  of  Arkansas,  I  remarked  Colonel  Smith's 
gallantry,  and  suggested  his  promotion. 

*  *  I  think  he  has  fairly  earned  it,  and  is  entitled  to  it. 

"  Numbers  of  his  juniors  (certainly  no  more  entitled  to  the 
distinction)  have  been  advanced  and  I  earnestly  hope  he  may 
speedily  be. 

"  (Signed)  D.  STUART, 

"  Brig.-Genl.  Comdg." 

General  Sherman  follows  : 

"  I  have  on  several  occasions  borne  special  testimony  to 
the  gallantry  and  bravery  of  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  54th  Ohio, 
—in  my  reports  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  of  our  several  engage 
ments  as  we  approached  Corinth,  during  our  marches  to 
Memphis,  to  the  Tallahatchie,  and  finally  at  Vicksburg  and 
Arkansas  Post.  And  in  a  special  communication  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  I  made  special  recommendation  for  the 
promotion  of  Colonel  Smith. 

"  I  am  conscious  my  old  division  is  impressed  with  the 
belief  that  I  have  not  pushed  forward  their  claims  to  promo 
tion  as  other  commanders  have  done  ;  but  all  must  feel  that 
I  have  urged  one  and  all  to  acquire  knowledge  and  experi 
ence  of  war  ;  and  that  such  knowledge  was  more  valuable  to 
them  than  mere  rank. 

"  The  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  no  holiday  affair, 


64  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

but  all  worthy,  ambitious  and  educated  officers  will  have 
ample  time  and  opportunity  to  attain  rank  equal  to  their 
expectations,  and  my  ambition  is  to  assist  those  under  my 
command  to  acquire  that  knowledge  and  proficiency  in  their 
profession,  without  which  promotion  brings  no  pleasure  or 
satisfaction  to  the  officer. 

"  With  these  explanatory  remarks,  I  add  my  hearty  ap 
proval  and  sanction  to  this  paper. 

"  (Signed)  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"  Maj.-Genl.  Com'd'g 
"  1 5th  Army  Corps." 

And  finally  General  Grant  added  his  own  testimony  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  TENNESSEE, 

"  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  March  10,  1863. 

"  Respectfully  forwarded  to  Headquarters  of  the  Army. 
Besides  the  high  recommendations  Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith  has 
from  his  Division  Comdr.  and  those  serving  under  him,  I  am 
pleased  to  add  my  testimonial  to  his  activity,  energy,  and 
ability  as  a  soldier. 

"  His  advancement  has  been  won  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
and  in  camp  in  disciplining  his  men.  Promotion  on  Colonel 
Smith  would  be  most  worthily  bestowed,  and  would  not  fall 
upon  one  with  whom  the  question  would  become  :  '  What 
will  you  do  with  him  ?  * 

"  (Signed)  U.  S.  GRANT, 

"  Maj.-Gen. 
"  Official 
"  (Signed)    JNO.  A.  RAWUNS, 

"  Asst.  Adjt.  General." 

This  paper  had  gone  forward  to  Washington,  and  Colonel 
Smith  no  doubt  waited  with  expectant  hope  the  results  of 
this  powerful  appeal  in  his  behalf.  His  disappointment  and 
chagrin  may  be  imagined  when,  on  the  24th  of  May,  but 
forty-eight  hours  after  he  had  led  his  soldiers  in  a  terrific 
assault,  he  was  superseded  by  General  J.  A.  J.  Lightburn, 
by  General  Sherman's  orders.  His  feelings  show  themselves 
in  the  following  note  at  once  addressed  to  Sherman  : 


Memoir  65 

"  HDQRS.  20  BRIGADE,  2D  Div.,  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"IN  THE  FiEivD,  May  24,  1863. 
"SIR: 

"  Your  orders  assigning  General  Lightburn  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  Second  Brigade,  is  this  moment  received.  At 
this  time  it  is  of  vital  interest  to  me  to  know  if  the  order  re 
lieving  me  can  be  construed  as  a  reflection  upon  my  conduct 
of  the  command  or  my  personal  bearing  in  the  late  engage 
ment.  I  hope  you  will  not  deem  the  question  coming  from 
me  to  you  impertinent.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  respectfully, 
'  Your  obt.  servt. , 

"  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH, 

Col.  Comd'g. 
"  Major-General  SHERMAN, 

"  Comd'g  Fifteenth  Army  Corps." 

General  Sherman  instantly  sent  the  following  reply  : 

"  May  24,  WALNUT  Hii,i£. 
"  Col.  T.  KILBY  SMITH, 

"  Comd'g  Second  Brigade. 
"  DEAR  COLONEL : 

"  I  have  just  received  your  note.  Most  undoubtedly  is 
this  assignment  of  General  Lightburn  no  reflection  on  you 
personally.  He  is  assigned  by  order  of  Gen.  Grant  to  me. 
His  Legal  Rank  compels  me  to  give  him  a  brigade.  General 
Lightburn  is  in  your  division  and  is  entitled  by  law  to  one 
of  the  two  brigades  commanded  by  you  and  Giles  A.  Smith. 
The  brigade  of  the  latter  belongs  to  his  brother,  Morgan  L. 
Smith,  who  may  join  at  any  moment  ;  indeed,  has  notified 
me  that  he  will  in  less  than  three  weeks.  Instead  of  reflect 
ing  on  you,  I  would  prefer  to  add  substantial  honors  on  you, 
and  I  doubt  not  General  Lightburn  will  in  a  great  measure 
rely  on  you  to  aid  him  in  fighting  it  during  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg.  Lightburn  reported  before  the  assault  and  I 
waited  till  it  was  over,  when  I  had  to  assign  him  to  a  com 
mand. 

"  Yrs.  truly, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Maj.-Gen." 


66  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Certainly,  nothing  could  be  handsomer  or  more  soldierly 
than  this  letter  shows  General  Sherman's  conduct  to  have 
been  ;  and  the  peculiar  delicacy  of  his  compliment  in  waiting 
until  after  the  assault  had  been  made,  showed  the  sincerity 
of  his  feeling.  None  the  less,  the  blow  was  a  heavy  one  to 
Colonel  Smith.  His  own  regiment  had  been  diminished  by 
the  casualties  of  war  until  its  numbers  had  fallen  below  the 
limit  fixed  by  a  recent  order  for  its  maintenance  as  a  separate 
organization.  After  his  gallant  services  in  the  field  and  his 
long  and  arduous  discipline  in  camp,  he  found  himself  liable 
at  any  moment  to  be  turned  adrift,  much  as  his  friend  Gen 
eral  Stuart  was  shortly  afterwards.  His  feeling  during  this 
period  was  expressed  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  his  old- 
time  preceptor  and  friend,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  who  was  then 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  : 


"  HEADQUARTERS  20  BRIGADE,  20  Div.,  ISTH  A.  C., 

"  CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  April  27,  1863. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

'  *  Permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  the  enclosed  corre 
spondence  with  reference  to  the  accompanying  order  '  from 
the  Secr'y  of  War,  not  that  I  propose  to  intrude  upon  you  a 
discussion  of  A  rmy  matters  but  that  I  may  indicate  how  im 
mediately  I  am  affected  by  the  order  and  its  results  to  my 
command. 

"  I  have  the  assurance  from  my  friends  that  you  have 
taken  an  interest  in  my  promotion,  and  feel  satisfied  that 
when  you  become  aware,  that  unless  I  receive  an  appoint 
ment  from  the  President  I  shall  necessarily  be  forced  from 
the  service,  that  interest  will  not  abate.  Upon  a  former 
occasion  I  promised  you  that  if  I  was  enabled  to  take  the  field 
you  should  hear  from  me.  I  can  only  point  to  the  official 
reports  of  my  commanding  generals,  '  Shiloh,'  '  Russell's 
House,  '  '  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  '  '  Arkansas  Post.  '  The  casual 
ties  of  battle,  skirmish,  and  an  active  campaign  have  reduced 
the  '  54th  Ohio,  '  and  brought  it  within  the  rule,  and  though 
for  a  year  past  at  intervals,  and  for  four  months  continuously, 
I  have  been  in  command  of  a  brigade  of  five  regiments,  once, 
1  For  the  consolidation  of  regiments. 


Memoir  67 

in  battle,  of  a  division,  I  am  to-day  liable  to  be  mustered  out. 

"  I  am  identified  with  the  Second  Brigade.  I  am  satisfied 
its  soldiers  wish  me  to  lead  them,  a  fact  of  which  the  papers 
on  file  at  headquarters  in  Washington,  and  the  enclosed  copy 
of  a  paper  signed  by  the  entire  command  will  furnish  evi 
dence.  I  forward  the  latter  for  your  consideration  though  as 
it  was  wholly  unmilitary  I  ordered  it  suppressed  when  it 
came  to  my  knowledge.  It  is  my  hope  and  ambition  to  lead 
them  to  victory,  but  my  duty  as  a  soldier  teaches  me  to  obey 
my  superior  officers  in  tacit  submission.  The  order  first  ex 
pelling  me,  will  speedily  operate  upon  other,  and  more 
worthy  officers — already  I  note  in  dejected  countenances  the 
disappointed  hopes  of  many  a  gallant  war-worn  veteran. 

' '  When  I  offered  my  sword  to  my  country,  it  was  with  the 
determination  that  it  should  not  be  sheathed,  till  her  honor 
was  redeemed,  and  the  rights  of  her  loyal  citizens  vindicated. 
For  twenty  months  I  have  done  her  service  to  the  best  of  my 
humble  abilities,  and  in  all  that  time  have  never  asked  or 
received  leave  of  absence,  or  for  any  cause  been  an  hour  from 
my  post.  I  should  not  now  become  a  supplicant  for  the 
privilege  of  wearing  her  livery,  were  it  not  that  I  deem  it  es 
sential  in  some  degree  to  her  interests.  I  stifle  indignation, 
and  as  I  must  write  to  some  friend  of  power,  and  influence 
with  the  President,  for  ancient  memories'  sake,  I  call  on  you. 
Pardon  my  trespass  upon  your  time  also  sacred  to  our  country. 
If  I  have  reason  to  expect  the  appointment  of  Brigadier  Gen 
eral,  and  the  assignment  to  my  present  command,  that  will 
naturally  follow,  I  can  pursue  with  renewed  hope  my  career 
here,  sufficiently  arduous  at  this  season  in  the  bayou  and 
swamp — if  the  contrary,  will  you  advise  me  of  the  fact  soon, 
for  if  worthless  to  the  Republic,  the  remainder  of  my  life 
may  be  of  value  to  my  family,  and  should  not  be  liable  to 
sacrifice  as  a  camp  follower.  With  the  most  profound  re 
spect,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

' '  Always  your  sincere  friend  and  obt.  servt. , 

"  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH, 
11  Col.  commanding  2d  Brigade, 

"  2d  Division,  i5th  A.  C. 
11  Hon.  S.  P.  CHASE, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 


68  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

In  this  crisis  of  his  career,  his  mother  followed  him  with 
anxious  thought.  She  corresponded  with  Generals  Grant 
and  Sherman  and  addressed  herself  to  Secretary  Chase,  to 
Senator  Sherman,  Secretary  Stanton,  and  to  the  President 
himself.  She  had  anticipated  the  danger  that  had  arisen 
from  the  order  for  consolidating  regiments,  and  had  written 
to  General  Sherman  on  the  subject.  His  reply  to  her  letter 
was  as  follows  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"  WALNUT  Hn,i<s,  May  25,  1863. 
"  Mrs.  ELIZA  B.  SMITH, 

"  Yellow  Springs,  Ohio. 
"  DEAR  MADAM  : 

' '  Yours  of  May  8th,  overtook  me  here.  The  order  for  con 
solidating  regiments  has  been  very  properly  suspended  by 
General  Grant  and  is  made  exceptional  :  that  is,  only  such 
regiments  will  be  reduced  to  battalions  as  corps  commanders 
recommend.  I  know  that  none  should  be  so  reduced,  but 
the  ranks  of  all  should  be  filled  with  conscripts  and  the  old 
regiments  thereby  revived  and  their  History  kept  up. 

'  *  Your  son  commanded  his  troops  up  to  yesterday,  when 
the  arrival  of  General  Lightburn,  promoted  by  the  last  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  was  assigned  to  me,  and  I  was  compelled 
by  that  law  which  all  must  obey  to  give  him  a  brigade.  I 
regret  this  exceedingly,  and  have,  both  in  writing  and 
verbally,  explained  it  fully  to  Kilby.  Of  course  he  feels 
naturally  very  sore  at  retiring  from  the  superior  command 
of  a  brigade  to  that  of  his  small  regiment ;  but  there  is  no 
help  for  it.  He  asked  last  night  for  a  leave  or  to  resign. 
This  would  be  wrong,  and  I  advised  him  strenuously  against 
it,  at  all  events,  till  Vicksburg  is  gained.  Then  I  promise  to 
use  my  influence  with  General  Grant  to  get  him  orders  to 
proceed  to  Ohio  and  enlist  enough  men  to  fill  up  his  old 
regiment. 

"  I  certainly  will  do  all  I  can  privately  and  officially  to 
promote  his  interests,  and  will  watch  his  career  with  an  in 
terest  second  only  to  that  of  his  own  family.  I  am  pleased 
to  note  that  you  are  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Sherman,  but  our 
children  are  at  that  age  that  requires  her  personal  care,  so 


Memoir  69 

that  I  fear  she  will  not  find  it  convenient  to  accept  your  kind 
invitation  to  the  Springs,  yet  she  can  do  as  she  likes. 

' '  I  write  on  a  Battle  Field,  with  the  rattle  of  musketry  and 
roar  of  cannon  in  my  ears,  and  I  feel  assured  you  will  pardon 
the  haste  in  which  I  reply  to  you. 

'  *  With  respect  and  affection,  yrs. , 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"  Maj.-Gen." 

General  Grant  showed  his  warm  interest  by  assigning 
Colonel  Smith  to  a  special  and  important  duty  pending  the 
results  of  the  application  made  to  Washington.  So  that, 
although  he  no  longer  commanded  troops  during  the  re 
mainder  of  the  operations  in  front  of  Vicksburg,  he  was  re 
lieved  of  the  mortification  of  taking  a  less  important  service 
than  that  he  had  hitherto  been  entrusted  with  ;  and  as  no 
further  assaults  were  made  but  only  the  regular  processes  of 
a  tedious  seige  were  carried  on,  he  escaped  some  arduous 
duty  without  diminution  of  credit.  He  was  assigned  to  the 
staff  of  General  Grant.  On  the  25th  of  May,  by  special 
order  from  General  Grant,  he  organized  a  court  of  inquiry, 
of  which  he  was  President,  and  Lieut. -Col.  Thomas  McMa- 
hon,  Judge  Advocate,  which  was  in  session  at  Milliken's 
Bend,  La.,  from  the  ist  to  the  iyth  of  June,  1863.  While  on 
duty  at  that  place,  an  attack  was  made  on  Milliken's  Bend 
by  the  Confederate  General,  J.  G.  Walker.  It  so  happened 
that  this  important  point  was  defended  by  negro  troops,  and 
the  object  of  the  attack  was  to  demoralize  the  troops  of  Gen 
eral  Grant  from  the  rear  and  divert  his  attack  from  Vicksburg. 
Although  at  first  the  black  troops  were  considerably  con 
fused,  they  soon  recovered  themselves  and  repulsed  the 
attack  handsomely.  As  soon  as  Admiral  Porter  heard  of  the 
affair,  he  went  up  in  his  flag  ship  Black  Hawk,  and  reported 
the  circumstance  to  General  Grant.  The  conduct  of  the  post 
was  severely  criticised  in  a  communication  of  Captain  A.  G. 
Strickle,  Commissioner,  who,  under  date  of  June  gth,  wrote 
to  General  Grant  : 

' '  It  is  with  feelings  of  regret  that  I  have  to  communicate 
to  you  the  sad  intelligence  of  the  loss  of  at  least  one  hundred 


70  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  our  white  and  black  troops  ;  but  while  it  is  painful  to  re 
cord  this  butchery,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  know  that  they  stood 
firm  while  they  had  commanders,  and  that  three  fourths  of 
the  African  troops  that  were  slain,  were  found  in  the  ditch 
where  they  were  ordered  to  make  their  stand.  .  .  .  It  is 
proper  here  to  say  that  Col.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  and  the 
other  members  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry,  that  happened  to  be 
here  engaged  in  examining  the  case  of  Col.  I.  F.  Shepard, 
have  rendered  essential  services  on  this  occasion,  and,  had 
their  counsel  been  heeded,  perhaps  many  lives  would  have 
been  saved,  and  nearly  an  entire  rout  of  the  enemy  been  the 
result.  .  .  .  The  capacity  of  the  negro  to  defend  his 
liberty,  and  his  susceptibility  to  appreciate  the  power  of 
motives  in  the  place  of  the  last,  have  been  put  to  such  a  test 
under  our  observation,  as  to  be  beyond  further  doubt."  ' 

The  gallantry  of  the  African  troops  in  this  affair,  and  the 
heavy  slaughter,  aroused  a  great  sensation  throughout  the 
country.  It  was  reported  by  Colonel  Smith  that  the  enemy 
attacked  them  bearing  a  flag  with  the  skull  and  cross-bones, 
and  it  was  further  currently  reported  that  they  showed  no 
quarter  and  had  inflicted  tortures  upon  some  of  the  white 
officers  whom  they  had  captured.  These  reports  having 
been  brought  to  the  notice  of  General  Grant,  he  determined 
to  send  a  special  message  by  flag  of  truce  to  the  Confederate 
General,  Richard  Taylor  at  Delhi,  I^a. ,  and  selected  Colonel 
T.  Kilby  Smith  and  Colonel  John  Riggin  to  bear  his  missive. 
In  the  course  of  his  note  he  says  : 

[<  I  feel  no  inclination  to  retaliate  for  the  offences  of  irre 
sponsible  persons  ;  but  if  it  is  the  policy  of  any  general  en 
trusted  with  the  command  of  any  troops,  to  show  '  no 
quarter, '  or  to  punish  with  death  persons  taken  in  battle,  I 
will  accept  the  issue.  .  .  .  Hoping  there  may  be  some 
mistake  in  the  evidence  furnished  me,  I  remain,  etc. "  3 

General  Taylor,  under  date  of  June  27,  1863,  disclaims  any 
knowledge  of  any  such  improper  and  unmilitary  conduct, 
and  promises  an  investigation. 

On  his  return  from  this  expedition,  Colonel  Smith  remained 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  ii.,  p.  456. 

2  Ibid.,  iii.,  p.  425. 


Memoir  7 1 

on  staff  duty  with  General  Grant  until  the  2d  of  July,  when 
lie  was  ordered  to  proceed  with  despatches  and  verbal  com 
munications  from  that  General  to  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  com 
manding  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  and  then  investing 
Port  Hudson.  This  service  he  performed,  bearing  the  fol 
lowing  letter  : 

"  HDQRS.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"  NEAR  VICKSBURG,  June  30,  1863. 
"  Major-Gen.  N.  P.  BANKS, 

"  Comd'g  Department  of  the  Gulf. 
"  GENERAL  : 

"  Feeling  a  great  anxiety  to  learn  the  situation  at  Port 
Hudson,  I  send  Colonel  Kilby  Smith  to  communicate  with 
you.  Colonel  Smith  has  been  here  during  the  entire  siege 
of  Vicksburg  and  can  inform  you  fully  on  the  position  of 
affairs  at  this  place.  I  confidently  expected  that  Vicksburg 
would  be  in  our  possession  before  this,  leaving  me  able  to 
send  you  any  forces  that  might  be  required  against  Port 
Hudson.  .  .  .  Hoping  soon  to  hear  favorable  news  from 
your  field  operations  by  the  return  of  Colonel  Smith,  I  re 
main, 

( '  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT."1 

It  fell  to  his  lot  to  communicate  to  General  Banks  the  in 
telligence  of  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  ;  whereupon  Gen 
eral  Gardner,  who  commanded  the  Confederate  forces  in 
that  stronghold,  capitulated.  On  the  gth  of  July,  Colonel 
Smith  started  on  his  return  to  Vicksburg  bearing  des 
patches  from  General  Banks. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  Vicksburg  surrendered,  and  Grant's 
greatest  triumph  up  to  that  date,  and  probably  the  greatest 
military  exploit  of  his  career,  had  been  brought  to  a  success 
ful  conclusion.  As  all  readers  of  the  history  of  the  Civil 
War  know,  the  problem  he  had  to  solve,  was  the  prevention 
of  a  junction  of  the  Confederate  army  under  Gen.  Jos.  John 
son  with  that  of  General  Pemberton,  which  was  garrisoning 
Vicksburg.  He  failed,  as  Sherman  had  failed  before  him,  to 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  iii.,  p.  451. 


72  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

take  the  works  by  assault ;  but,  more  successful  than  Sher 
man,  he  so  manoeuvred  his  army  in  the  campaign  between 
May  6th  and  May  22d,  as  effectually  to  separate  Johnson 
from  Pemberton  ;  and,  having  completely  beleaguered  the 
city,  it  was  but  a  question  of  time  when  it  had  to  capitulate. 
He  writes  on  the  very  day  of  the  surrender  as  follows  : 

"  HDQRS.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"  NEAR  VICKSBURG,  July  4,  1863. 
"  Maj.-Gen.  N.  P.  BANKS, 

"  Comd'g  Department  of  the  Gulf. 
"  GENERAL  : 

"  The  garrison  of  Vicksburg  surrendered  this  morning. 
Number  of  prisoners  as  given  by  the  officers,  is  27,000;  field 
artillery,  128  pieces,  and  a  large  number  of  siege  guns,  prob 
ably  not  less  than  eighty.  The  other  stores  will  probably 
not  amount  to  any  great  deal.  I  held  all  my  surplus  troops 
out  on  Big  Black  River,  and  between  there  and  Haynes 
Bluff.  Intending  to  assault  in  a  few  days,  I  directed  that 
they  be  kept  in  readiness  to  move  on  the  shortest  notice  to 
attack  Johnson.  The  moment  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg 
was  agreed  upon,  the  order  was  given  and  the  troops  are 
now  in  motion.  General  Sherman  goes  in  command  of  this 
expedition.  His  force  is  so  large  I  think  it  cannot  fail.  This 
move  will  have  the  effect  of  keeping  Johnson  from  detaching 
a  portion  of  his  force  for  the  relief  of  Port  Hudson.  Although 
I  had  the  garrison  of  Vicksburg  completely  in  my  power,  I 
gave  them  the  privilege  of  being  paroled  at  this  place  ;  the 
officers  to  retain  their  side  arms  and  private  baggage  ;  and 
field,  staff,  and  cavalry  officers  to  take  with  them  one  horse 
each.  I  regard  the  terms  really  more  favorable  than  an  un 
conditional  surrender.  It  leaves  the  transports  and  troops 
for  immediate  use.  At  the  present  juncture  of  affairs  in 
the  East,  and  on  the  river  above  here,  this  may  prove  of  vast 
importance.  I  hope,  General,  and  from  what  Admiral  Porter 
tells  me,  this  probably  will  find  you  in  possession  of  Port 
Hudson.1  "  I  am,  General,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT.'' 

1  Ibid.,  p.  470. 


Memoir 


73 


The  following  letter  of  General  Sherman,  conveying  his 
congratulations,  shows  an  enthusiasm  not  frequent  in  his 
correspondence. 

"  CAMP  ON  BEAR  CREEK, 

"July  4,  1863. 
"  Major-General  GRANT, 

' '  MY  DEAR  GKNKRAI,  : 

"  The  telegraph  has  just  announced  to  me  that  Vicks- 
burg  is  ours.  ...  I  can  hardly  contain  myself.  Surely 
will  I  not  punish  any  soldier  for  being  ' '  unco  happy ' '  this 
most  glorious  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  a  nation,  whose 
sire  and  father  was  a  Washington.  Did  I  not  know  the 
honesty,  modesty,  and  purity  of  your  nature,  I  would  be 
tempted  to  follow  the  examples  of  my  standard  enemies  of 
the  press,  in  indulging  in  wanton  flattery ;  but  as  a  man  and 
a  soldier,  and  ardent  friend  of  yours,  I  warn  you  against  the 
incense  of  flattery  that  will  fill  our  land  from  one  extreme  to 
the  other.  Be  natural,  and  yourself,  and  this  glittering 
flattery  will  be  as  the  passing  breeze  of  the  sea  on  a  warm 
summer  day.  To  me  the  delicacy  with  which  you  have 
treated  a  brave  but  deluded  enemy,  is  more  eloquent  than 
the  most  gorgeous  oratory  of  an  Bverett. 

"  This  is  a  day  of  jubilee  ;  a  day  of  rejoicing  to  the  faith 
ful,  and  I  would  like  to  hear  the  cheers  of  my  old  and  patient 
troops,  but  I  must  a  Gradgrind.  I  must  have  facts,  knocks, 
and  must  go  on.  Already  are  my  orders  out  to  give  one  big 
huzzah  and  sling  the  knapsack  for  new  fields.  ...  I 
did  want  rest,  but  I  ask  nothing  until  the  Mississippi  River 
is  ours.  .  .  .  Though  in  the  back  ground,  as  I  ever  wish 
to  be  in  civil  war,  I  feel  that  I  have  labored  some  to  secure 
this  glorious  result. 

"  I  am,  with  respect,  your  friend, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN." 

And  thus  he  writes  to  Admiral  Porter  on  the  same  day  : 
' '  No  event  in  my  life  could  have  given  me  more  personal 
pride  or  pleasure  than  to  have  met  you  to-day  on  the  wharf 
at  Vicksburg  on  the  4th  of  July,  so  eloquent  in  events  as  to 
need  no  words  or  stimulants  to  elevate  its  importance. 


74  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

' '  I  can  appreciate  the  intense  satisfaction  you  must  feel  to 
be  lying  before  the  very  monster  which  has  defied  us  with 
such  deep  and  malignant  hatred  and  seeing  your  once  dis 
united  fleet  again  a  unit  ;  and,  better  still,  the  chain  that 
made  an  enclosed  sea  of  a  link  in  the  great  river,  broken 
forever.  In  so  magnificent  a  result,  I  stop  not  to  count  who 
did  it  :  it  is  done,  and  the  day  of  our  nation's  birth  is  conse 
crated  and  baptized  anew,  and  a  victory  won  by  the  united 
Navy  and  Army  of  our  country. 

"  God  grant  that  the  harmony  and  mutual  respect  that 
exists  between  our  respective  commanders  and  shared  by  all 
the  true  men  of  the  joint  service  may  continue  forever  and 
serve  to  elevate  our  national  character  threatened  with  ship 
wreck.  Thus,  I  muse  as  I  sit  in  my  solitary  camp  out  in  the 
woods,  far  from  the  point  for  which  we  have  jointly  striven  so 
long  and  so  well  ;  and  though  personal  curiosity  would 
tempt  me  to  go  and  see  the  frowning  batteries  and  sunken 
pits  that  have  defied  us  so  long,  and  sent  to  their  silent 
graves  so  many  of  our  early  comrades  in  the  enterprise,  I 
feel  that  other  tasks  lie  before  me  and  time  must  not  be 
lost.  .  . 

While  his  friend  and  chief  was  thus  rejoicing  over  the 
capture  of  Vicksburg,  Colonel  Kilby  Smith  had  the  pleasure 
of  witnessing  the  capitulation  of  Port  Hudson.  General 
Banks  had  besieged  this  point  almost  as  long  as  Grant  had 
Vicksburg.  He  had  twice  endeavored  to  carry  the  works 
by  assault,  but  with  no  greater  success  than  Sherman  and 
Grant  had  met  with  in  their  efforts.  He  had  therefore  laid 
close  siege,  and  was  making  preparations  for  another  assault, 
when  the  news  was  brought  by  Col.  Kilby  Smith  that  Vicks 
burg  had  surrendered.  The  last  hope  was  thus  taken  away 
from  the  beleaguered  garrison,  who  had  already  been  reduced 
to  great  stress  by  the  failure  of  their  provisions,  and  they 
surrendered  with  the  honors  of  war.  Gen.  Banks  had  the 
supreme  satisfaction  of  announcing  the  surrender  of  Port 
Hudson  in  the  following  letter: 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  Hi.,  pp.  472,  473. 


Memoir 


75 


"BEFORE  PORT  HUDSON,  LA.,  July  8,  1863. 
"  Major-General  GRANT, 
"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  Port  Hudson 
surrendered  this  day.  I  was  unable  to  determine  the  num 
ber  of  prisoners  or  the  extent  of  the  army.  The  commis 
sioners  ask  for  six  thousand  rations.  The  surrender  is  in 
effect  unconditional.  I  declined  to  stipulate  for  the  parol  of 
officers  or  men,  but  necessity  will  compel  me  to  parol  at  once 
a  considerable  proportion  of  the  prisoners,  selecting  those 
representing  States  mainly  in  our  control  :  as  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  etc. 

' '  Twelve  thousand  or  fifteen  thousand  of  the  enemy  have 
been  threatening  my  communications  and  they  occupy  the 
La  Fourche  districts.  I  shall  move  against  them  forthwith. 

' '  My  disposable  force  is  about  equal  to  their  number  if  I 
detain  General  Grierson's  cavalry.  This  I  hope  to  do  for  a 
term  of  not  more  than  two  weeks,  when  I  will  return  him  in 
good  condition  to  your  camp.  He  has  been  of  infinite  ser 
vice,  and  I  know  not  in  what  way  I  could  have  supplied  his 
place.  My  thanks  are  due  to  Lieutenant  (H.  A.)  Ulffers  for 
valuable  services.  He  is  a  patient,  sound,  intelligent,  and 
patriotic  officer.  He  returns  with  Colonel  (T.  K.)  Smith. 

' '  The  enemy  in  my  rear  disposed  of,  I  earnestly  desire  to 
move  into  Texas,  which  is  now  denuded  of  troops.  The 
enemy  here  is  largely  composed  of  Texans,  and  we  hope  to 
capture  them.  Will  it  be  possible  for  you  to  spare  me  for 
this  expedition  (which  should  be  closed  in  two  months  from 
this  date)  a  division  of  ten  thousand  or  twelve  thousand 
men  ?  I  know  the  claims  upon  your  forces  ;  I  see  that  you 
will  hope  to  strengthen  our  armies  in  the  West,  and  propose 
my  request  with  hesitation  ;  but  there  is  no  point  where  the 
same  number  of  men  could  do  so  much  good.  I  want  Wes 
tern  men.  It  was  my  hope  to  join  you  in  the  contest  before 
Vicksburg  and  strengthen  your  command  with  what  forces 
I  have,  but  it  was  impossible. 

"  Colonel  Smith,  who  brought  me  the  welcome  message 
from  you,  has  remained  at  my  command  to  convey  to  you 
in  return  the  news  of  the  surrender  or  capture  of  Port  Hud- 


76  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

son,  which  could  not  have  been  deferred  longer  than  to-mor 
row.     His  visit  has  given  me  the  greatest  pleasure.     His 
effective  destruction  of  the  boats  and  other  means  of  crossing 
the  Mississippi  which  the  enemy  possessed,  has  been  of  the 
greatest  service  to  us  and  the  cause. 
' '  I  hope  he  may  return  safely  to  you. 
"  I  am,  General,  with  great  respect, 

' '  Your  obt.  servant, 

"  N.  P.  BANKS, 
"  Maj.-Gen.  Comdg."  ' 

On  his  way  to  Port  Hudson  from  Vicksburg,  Colonel  Smith 
had  caused  the  destruction  of  a  large  number  of  boats,  used 
by  the  enemy  at  Natchez.  It  was  for  this  service  that  Gen 
eral  Banks  gives  credit  in  his  letter. 

On  the  nth  of  July,  Colonel  Smith  returned  to  head 
quarters  at  Vicksburg,  but  on  his  way  observed  that  a  large 
number  of  cattle  had  been  collected  at  Natchez  for  the  use 
of  the  rebel  army, — a  fact  that  he  reported  to  General  Grant, 
who  promptly  organized  an  expedition  under  General  Ran 
som  to  bring  them  in  for  the  use  of  the  Union  troops.  General 
Grant  writes  to  General  Banks,  under  date  of  July  nth  : 

"  I  also  ordered  on  the  strength  of  Colonel  Smith's  report, 
about  one  thousand  men  to  Natchez  to  hold  that  place  for  a 
few  days  and  to  collect  the  cattle  that  had  been  crossing 
there  for  the  rebel  army. ' '  a 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxvi.,  part  i.,  p.  624. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  500. 

"  NATCHEZ,  Miss.,  July  14,  1863. 
"  General  B.  H.  GRIERSON, 

"  Comd'g,  etc. 
"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

"  I  have  just  written  a  hasty  note  to  General  Banks.  We  are  in 
occupation  of  Natchez  and  ought  to  have  been  here  twenty-four  hours 
sooner,  whereby  we  should  have  saved  a  train  of  300  wagons  with 
ordnance  stores.  As  it  is,  we  have  captured  some  thousands  of  cattle, 
variously  estimated  from  3000  to  8000. 

"  General  Ransom  is  in  command,  one  brigade,  say  1200  men, — too 
small  for  this  place. 

"The  General  is  doing  splendidly.  If  you  could  arrange  in  any 
way  to  get  a  troop  here,  you  would  be  doing  very  great  service, — 


Memoir 


77 


On  the  1 2th  of  July,  Colonel  Smith  occupied  Natchez  with 
troops  under  command  of  Brigadier-General  Ransom.  The 
expedition  resulted  in  the  seizure  of  five  thousand  head  of 
cattle,  twelve  hundred  sheep,  and  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores.  By  order  of  General  Grant,  he  remained  in  Natchez 
twenty-one  days  ;  returning  to  Vicksburg  on  the  3d  of 
August,  he  was  engaged  on  staff  duty  with  General  Grant 
as  an  acting  aide-de-camp  till  August  i3th,  when  by  special 
orders,  he  proceeded  to  New  Orleans  as  bearer  of  despatches 
from  the  General-in-Chief  to  Major-Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  com 
manding  the  Department  of  the  Gulf. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1863,  Colonel  Smith  received 
his  long  looked  for  appointment  by  the  President  as  Brigadier- 
General  of  Volunteers  in  the  service  of  the  United  States; 
whereupon  the  following  special  orders  were  issued  : 

almost  inestimable  service.  I  spoke  of  you  and  for  you  to  General 
Grant ;  said  all  that  you  wanted  me  to  say.  I  wish  you  could  get 
up  on  some  of  the  transports  we  send  out  with  cattle,  say  the  Imperial. 
She  is  a  splendid  boat ;  put  100  on  her  anyhow.  It  is  of  the  last  im 
portance  that  you  should  have  a  command  here  soon. 

"  I  have  not  written  upon  the  subject  of  cavalry  to  General  Banks. 
You  must  show  him  this  letter  so  that  he  will  understand.  Don't  do 
anything  to  cripple  his  movements. 

"  Respectfully  and  most  truly  yours, 

"Tnos.  KiivBY  SMITH. 
"  Col.  and  Act'g  Aid-de-Camp."  ! 
1  War  Rec.,  series  i.,  vol.  xxiv.,  part  iii.,  p.  511. 

"HDQRS.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GUI,F,  IQTH  A.  C., 

"  NEW  ORLEANS,  18  July,  1863. 
"  MY  DEAR  COLONEL  : 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  note  which  I  rec'd  by  the  steamer  Imperial. 
It  gladdened  the  sight  of  our  people  to  see  a  steamer  from  above 
Vicksburg  ;  'the  river  is  open,  indeed,'  they  said.  I  hope  I  may  have 
time  to  visit  you  when  we  will  talk  over  the  military  expedition  of 
the  future.  I  am  glad  you  think  of  it  with  interest. 

"  We  look  for  the  defeat  of  Johnston's  army  by  Grant,  and  then,  if 
the  news  holds  good  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  backbone  of 
the  rebellion  will  be  broken.  I  congratulate  you  on  the  auspicious 
future. 

"  Very  truly  yours,  as  ever, 

"  N.  P.  BANKS,  M.G." 


78  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Special  Orders  \ 
No.  237.        / 

"  HDQRS.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"  VlCKSBURG,    MISS.,  Aug.  30,   1863. 

"  Col.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith,  54th  Regiment,  Ohio  Infantry 
Volunteers,  having  been  appointed  by  the  President  as 
Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers  to  rank  as  such  from 
August  n,  1863,  and  having  accepted  said  appointment  on 
the  26th  day  of  August,  1863,  is  hereby  honorably  discharged 
from  the  service  as  Colonel  of  said  Regiment,  to  take  effect 
on  the  day  of  said  acceptance. 

"  By  order  of  Major-Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT, 

"JNO.  A.  RAWUNS, 
"  Asst.  Adjt.  Gen. 
"  Brigadier-General  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH."  ' 

1  As  this  order  marked  the  final  detachment  of  General  Smith  from 
his  first  command,  and  as  the  fortunes  of  war  separated  them  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  remaining  years  of  the  Rebellion,  it  is  thought  of 
interest  to  give  the  following  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  54th  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry,  to  whose  discipline  in  camp  Colonel  Smith  had 
given  so  much  energy,  and  with  whom  he  had  shared  so  many  of  the 
perils  of  the  campaigns  : 

The  material  composing  the  54th  Regiment  was  from  Allen, 
Auglaize,  Butler,  Cuyahoga,  Green,  Hamilton,  Logan,  and  Preble 
Counties.  The  Regiment  went  into  the  field  on  the  lyth  of  Febru 
ary,  1862,  with  an  aggregate  of  850  men.  It  reached  Paducah,  Ky., 
on  the  2oth,  and  was  assigned  to  a  brigade  in  the  division  of  General 
Sherman.  On  the  6th  of  March,  the  command  ascended  the  Tennes 
see  River  to  Pittsburg  Landing  and  encamped  near  Shiloh  Church. 
The  Regiment  took  part  in  the  battles  of  6th  and  7th  April,  and  in 
the  two  days  fighting  lost  198  men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  On 
the  29th  of  April  it  moved  in  the  Army  against  Corinth,  participating 
in  all  the  fighting,  and  when  the  place  was  evacuated,  was  the  first 
organized  body  of  troops  to  enter  the  town.  After  several  short  ex 
peditions  it  accompanied  General  Sherman  to  Chickasaw  Bayou,  and 
was  in  the  engagements  of  December  28th  and  29th  in  which  it  lost 
twenty  men,  killed  and  wounded.  It  was  next  at  the  capture  of 
Arkansas  Post,  after  which  it  proceeded  to  Young's  Point,  La.,  and 
was  employed  in  digging  a  canal,  and  other  demonstrations  connected 
with  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  On  the  6th  of  May,  1863,  it  began  its 
march  to  the  rear  of  Vieksburg,  by  way  of  Grand  Gulf,  and  took  part 
in  the  battles  of  Champion  Hills  and  Big  Black  Bridge.  It  was  en- 


Memoir 


79 


Why  this  appointment  was  made  to  date  from  the  1 1  th  of 
August,  and  not  from  the  22d  of  May,  for  services  rendered 

gaged  in  a  general  assault  on  the  enemy's  works  on  the  igth  and  22d 
of  May,  losing  in  the  two  engagements  forty-seven,  killed  and 
wounded.  It  was  almost  continually  employed  in  skirmishing  and 
fatigue  duty  during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  after  the  fall  of  that 
stronghold,  it  moved  with  the  army  on  Jackson,  Miss.,  skirmishing 
constantly  from  the  9th  to  the  i/jth  of  July.  In  October,  1863,  it 
proceeded  with  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  to  Memphis,  and  from 
there  moved  to  Chattanooga.  It  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Missionary 
Ridge,  November  26th,  and  the  next  day  moved  to  the  relief  of 
Knoxville,  after  which  it  returned  to  Chattanooga,  and  on  the  I2th 
of  January,  1864,  it  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Larkensville,  Ala. 

The  54th  re-enlisted  as  Veterans  on  the  22d  of  January,  and  went 
home  to  Ohio  on  furlough.  It  returned  to  camp  in  April  with  200 
recruits  and  entered  in  the  Atlanta  campaign  on  the  first  of  May.  It 
took  part  in  the  battles  of  Resaca  and  Dallas,  and  was  also  in  the 
skirmish  at  New  Hope  Church  on  the  yth  of  June.  In  the  assault  on 
Kennesaw  Mountain,  June  2yth,  it  lost  twenty -eight  men,  killed  and 
wounded.  On  the  3d  of  July  in  a  skirmish  at  Nickojack  Creek,  it 
lost  thirteen  men,  killed  and  wounded,  and  in  a  battle  on  the  east  side 
of  Atlanta,  July  2ist  and  22d,  it  lost  ninety-four,  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing.  It  lost  eight  men,  killed  and  wounded,  at  Ezra  Chapel  on 
the  28th,  and  from  the  29th  of  July  to  the  2yth  of  August,  it  was 
almost  continually  engaged  in  skirmishing  before  the  works  at  At 
lanta.  It  was  in  a  heavy  skirmish  at  Jouesboro,  August  3oth,  and  in 
a  general  action  at  the  same  place  two  days  immediately  following. 

On  the  I5th  of  November,  the  54th  started  with  Sherman  on  his 
famous  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  and  was  engaged  in  the  assault  at  Fort 
McAllister  near  Savannah.  The  Regiment  assisted  in  the  destruction 
of  the  Gulf  Railroad,  and  on  the  yth  of  January,  1865,  marched  into 
Savannah.  It  moved  with  the  Army  through  the  Carolinas,  and  par 
ticipated  in  its  last  battle  at  Beutouville,  May  21,  1865.  The  war  was 
now  virtually  over,  and  the  Regiment  marched  to  Richmond,  the 
Confederate  Capitol,  and  from  there  to  Washington,  where  it  took 
part  in  the  grand  review.  On  the  2d  of  June  it  proceeded  to  Louis 
ville,  Ky.,  where  it  remained  two  weeks,  when  it  was  ordered  to 
Arkansas.  It  performed  garrison  duty  at  Little  Rock  till  Aug.  isth, 
when  it  was  mustered  out  of  service. 

"  The  aggregate  strength  of  the  Regiment  at  its  muster  out  was 
255,— 24  officers  and  231  men.  It  marched  during  its  time  of  service 
a  distance  of  3,682  miles,  participated  in  four  sieges,  nine  severe 
skirmishes,  fifteen  general  engagements,  and  sustained  a  loss  of  506 
men,  killed,  wounded,  and  missing." — History  of  Logan  County  (O.), 
pp.  310,  311. 


8o  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

at  Vicksburg,  or  even  from  an  earlier  date,  might  be  asked. 
The  real  response  would  no  doubt  be,  that  among  so  many 
gallant  men  and  deserving  officers,  the  President  found  it 
difficult  to  make  his  selections  ;  and,  without  special  in 
fluence,  excepting  that  heretofore  indicated,  General  Smith 
was  fortunate  to  have  received  the  recognition  that  finally 
came  to  him.  It  was  a  source  of  sincere  pleasure  to  his 
commanding  officers,  as  will  appear  from  their  own  testimony. 
General  Grant  wrote  almost  immediately  to  his  mother  the 
following  letter  : 

"  VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  August  28,  1863. 
"  Mrs.  SMITH, 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  I  have  received  two  letters  from 
you  heretofore,  and  told  your  son,  T.  Kilby  Smith,  that  I 
should  write  to  you  in  answer.  But  I  am  generally  so  busy 
with  matters  that  I  am  bound  to  give  attention  to,  that  to 
this  time  I  have  neglected  it. 

:'  I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  northern  end  of 
my  department,  and  am  happy  to  learn  that  in  my  absence 
Col.  T.  Kilby  Smith  has  received  the  appointment  of  Brig.. 
Gen.  in  the  Volunteer  service.  I  congratulate  you  and  him 
sincerely  upon  this  promotion.  You  will  believe  me  when  I 
say  sincerely,  because  it  was  on  my  recommendation  that  he 
has  been  promoted.  I  do  not  know  that  Colonel  Smith  was 
aware  of  my  having  recommended  him  for  this  appointment. 
At  all  events,  I  did  not  tell  him  so. 

'  You  will  excuse  me  for  writing  a  very  short  letter  and 
a  very  uninteresting  one,  except  for  the  announcement  it 
makes. 

' '  Believe  me  most  sincerely  the  friend  of  yourself  and  your 
son,  with  whom  I  have  become  intimately  acquainted,  and 
to  say  that  acquaintance  with  him  only  ripens  friendship. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT, 
"  Maj.-Gen." 

General  Sherman  himself  brought  the  news  of  his  promo 
tion  to  the  soldiers  of  his  old  brigade,  but  for  the  immediate 


Memoir  8 1 

present,  the  newly  made  Brigadier '  continued  in  close  associ 
ation  with  General  Grant. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  General  Grant,  accompanied  by  a 
number  of  officers  on  his  staff,  including  General  Kilby 
Smith,  proceeded  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  reviewed  the 
troops  and  inspected  the  fortifications  of  Fort  Jackson  and 
Fort  St.  Philip.  It  was  during  this  visit  that  General  Grant 
met  with  an  accident  that  might  have  cost  him  his  life. 
While  returning  from  a  review  of  the  troops  held  outside  of 
the  city,  and  riding  at  a  very  high  rate  of  speed,  he  met 
with  an  obstruction  and  fell  with  his  horse  in  the  road.  For 
sometime  afterwards  he  was  a  great  sufferer,  and  did  not 
fully  recover  for  a  number  of  weeks.  On  the  i6th  of  Sep 
tember,  General  Smith,  by  special  orders  from  General 
Grant,  was  directed  to  report  to  Major-General  McPherson, 
commanding  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps.  His  personal 
preference  at  another  time  would  have  been  no  doubt  for  his 
old  soldiers  ;  but  the  appointment  of  General  Lightburn  pre 
cluded  this,  and  he  found  great  satisfaction  in  being  placed 
under  the  immediate  command  of  General  McPherson,  with 
w7hom  his  relations  were  always  of  a  most  friendly  character. 
The  General  assigned  him  to  the  command  of  the  Second 
Brigade  of  the  First  Division  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
then  stationed  at  Natchez.  This  brigade  comprised  the 
following  regiments:  viz.,  nth  Illinois,  Major  Geo.  C. 
McKee  ;  i/ith  Wisconsin,  Major  Asa  Wordin  ;  iyth  Wis 
consin,  Lieut. -Col.  Thos.  F.  McMahon  ;  y2d  Illinois,  Lieut.  - 
Col.  Jos.  Stockton  ;  95th  Illinois,  Lieut. -Col.  Leander 
Blanden.  He  remained  in  command  of  this  brigade  at  that 
post  but  a  very  short  time,  but  long  enough  to  make  many 
friends  and  to  show  his  capacity  for  the  administration  of 
martial  law  in  a  military  district.  On  the  2oth  of  October, 

1  "  U.  S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH, 

"  Aug.  25,  1863. 

"  By  Telegraph  from  Sherman's  25,  86. 
"  To  Gen.  KILBY  SMITH  : 

"  I  congratulate  you.  Shall  carry  up  your  message  myself  to  your 
old  brigade.  "W.T.SHERMAN, 

"Maj.-Genl." 

6 


82  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

he  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  Second  Brigade  and 
First  Division,  and  transferred  to  the  Fourth  Division,  com 
manded  by  Gen.  M.  M.  Crocker,  being  assigned  to  the  First 
Brigade  thereof.  His  first  order  indicated  the  feeling  with 
which  he  was  actuated  throughout  the  war  ;  it  explains 
itself  : 

''General  Orders) 
"No.  i.          / 

"  HDQRS.  FIRST  BRIG.,  4TH  Div.,  lyrn  A.  C., 
"  DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"VlCKSBURG,  Oct.  26,  1863. 

' '  The  General  commanding  the  brigade  is  pained  to  see 
that  many  of  the  beautiful  forest  trees  that  adorn  this  en 
campment,  have  been  cut  ;  some  of  them  in  the  wanton  spirit 
of  destruction.  Hereafter  no  trees  will  be  felled  without 
special  orders.  Fuel  in  ample  abundance  for  warmth  or 
cooking  will  be  furnished  by  regimental  quartermasters. 
Fences,  out-houses, -property  of  any  description  must  not  be 
depredated,  and  unoffending  people  who  are  without  protec 
tion,  save  that  afforded  by  our  soldiers,  appeal  to  our  sym 
pathies.  It  is  believed  that  the  chivalry  of  every  true  soldier 
will  not  permit  his  sympathies  in  vain  to  be  appealed  to. 

"  War  has  its  laws  as  well  as  peace.  Save  by  military 
rule,  the  rights  of  person  and  property  are  sacred  :  sacred 
here  on  the  soil  of  Mississippi,  as  near  your  peaceful  homes 
in  the  far  West.  Remember,  it  is  not  women  and  children, 
nor  States,  upon  whom  the  Government  is  making  war  ;  but 
the  traitors  who  compose  the  rebel  army  and  their  adherents. 
It  is  for  the  soldiers  of  the  Government  who  have  perilled 
their  lives  and  pledged  their  fortunes  and  honor  for  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order,  to  set  an  example  to  the 
rebels  who  have  sought  to  overturn  all  and  bring  anarchy 
and  confusion  upon  the  land.  To  teach  them  that  in  the 
true  consciousness  of  power  and  victory  we  can  exercise  a 
wise  and  just  forbearance. 

'  The  vile  followers  who  invest  the  camps,  whether  in  the 
guise  of  soldiers  or  otherwise,  who  are  detected  in  trespassing 
upon  the  rights  of  citizens  in  person  or  property,  will  be 
summarily  dealt  with.  Good  soldiers  who  suffer  in  reputa- 


Memoir  83 

tion,  and  are  scandalized  by  their  conduct,  are  enjoined  to 
bring  them  to  justice. 

"  By  order  of  Brig. -Gen.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith, 

"  WILLIAM  WARNER, 
"A.  A.  A.  Gen." 

General  Smith  remained  in  active  field  service  at  Natchez 
and  on  the  Black  and  Yazoo  Rivers  till  February,  1864, 
when,  with  his  command,  he  took  part  in  the  Meridian  ex 
pedition  in  command  of  General  Sherman. 

The  object  of  the  Meridian  expedition  was  to  break  up  the 
enemy's  railroad  connections  and  thereby  to  demoralize  their 
armies,  in  that  theatre  of  campaign.  Meridian  was  a  railroad 
centre  of  great  importance.  General  Sherman's  plan  was  to 
march  straight  for  this  point,  where  he  expected  to  be  joined 
by  the  cavalry  under  command  of  Gen.  W.  Sooy  Smith,  and 
be  governed  by  the  situation  at  that  time  as  to  his  further 
movements.  He  accordingly  took  three  divisions  of  the 
Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  and  three  of  the  Seventeenth,  making 
an  aggregate  of  more  than  thirty-eight  thousand  men,  and 
marched  from  Vicksburg  on  the  3d  of  February  in  two  col 
umns.  The  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  was  commanded  by  Gen. 
Stephen  A.  Hurlbut  ;  the  Seventeenth,  by  Major-Gen. 
James  B.  McPherson,  and  in  the  Seventeenth,  was  the 
Fourth  Division  of  General  Crocker,  whose  three  brigades 
were  commanded  respectively  by  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby 
Smith,  Col.  Cyrus  Hall,  and  Brig. -Gen.  Walter  Q.  Gresham  ; 
the  cavalry  brigade  was  commanded  by  Col.  Edward  F. 
Winslow.  General  Smith's  brigade  was  composed  of  the 
4ist  Illinois,  Lieut. -Col.  John  H.  Nale  ;  the  53d  Illinois, 
Major  Rolland  H.  Ellison  ;  the  3d  Iowa,  Major  George  W. 
Cressley  ;  the  33d  Wisconsin,  Col.  Jonathan  B.  Moore. 
General  Sherman  says  in  his  report  : 

"  My  object  was  to  break  up  the  enenry's  railroads  at  and 
about  Meridian,  and  to  do  the  enemy  as  much  damage  as 
possible  in  the  month  of  February,  and  to  be  prepared  by  the 
ist  of  March  to  assist  General  Banks  in  a  similar  dash  at  the 
Red  River  country,  especially  Shreveport  ;  the  whole  to  re 
sult  in  widening  our  domain  along  the  Mississippi  River, 


84  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  thereby  set  the  troops,  hitherto  necessary  to  guard  the 
river,  free  for  other  military  purposes.  My  plan  of  action 
was  as  follows  :  Gen.  Wm.  Sooy  Smith  to  move  from  Mem 
phis  by  or  before  the  ist  of  February  with  an  effective  force 
of  seven  thousand  cavalry,  lightly  equipped,  to  march 
straight  on  Pontotoc,  Okolana,  Columbus  Junction  (Artesa) 
and  Meridian  ;  to  arrive  there  about  February  loth,  distance 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  to  disregard  all  minor  objects, 
to  destroy  railroads,  bridges,  corn  not  wanted,  and  strike 
quick  and  well  every  enemy  that  should  offer  opposition  ; 
while  I,  with  four  divisions  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  would 
at  the  same  time  move  from  Vicksburg  on  the  same  objective 
points,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  When  met  at 
Meridian,  being  present  in  person,  I  could  then  order  anew 
according  to  the  then  circumstances,  condition  of  roads  and 
time  left  at  my  disposal. ' '  J 

General  W.  S.  Smith's  movement  was  not  successful  :  he 
started  late,  and  met  with  so  much  opposition  that  he  gave 
up  the  effort  to  meet  Sherman  at  Meridian,  much  to  that 
officer's  discontent,  as  appears  by  the  report.  Sherman's 
own  movement,  he  says,  ' '  was  successful  in  an  eminent  de 
gree.  .  .  .  We  met  no  opposition  till  General  Hurlbut's 
head  of  column  reached  Joe  Davis' s  plantation,  and  General 
McPherson  the  Champion  Hills.  The  5th  was  one  continu 
ous  skirmish  for  eighteen  miles,  but  we  did  not  allow  the 
enemy's  cavalry  to  impede  our  march,  but  got  into  Jackson 
that  night  on  his  heels,  whipping  him  handsomely  and 
utterly  disconcerting  his  plans.  .  .  .  Pushing  on  speedily 
and  rapidly,  the  army  reached  Meridian  on  the  i4th  of  Feb 
ruary,  and  on  the  i5th  and  i6th  he  made  a  thorough  destruc 
tion  from  the  roads  centering  at  Meridian.  For  five  days, 
ten  thousand  men  worked  hard  and  with  a  will  in  that  work 
of  destruction  ;  with  axes,  crow  bars,  sledges,  and  with  fire, 
and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  pronouncing  the  work  as  well 
done.  Meridian  with  its  depots,  storehouses,  arsenal,  hos 
pitals,  offices,  hotels,  and  cantonments,  no  longer  exists. ' ' 8 

After  accomplishing  this  work  of  destruction,  Sherman 
returned  leisurely  to  Vicksburg,  where  his  forces  were 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxii.,  part  i.,  p.  175.  9  Ibid.,  p.  176. 


Memoir  85 

assembled  by  the  6th  of  March.  This  expedition  tested  the 
endurance  of  the  army  on  the  march,  and  no  doubt  in 
fluenced  General  Sherman  in  his  opinion  of  its  capacity  to 
stand  the  long  march  to  the  sea  which  he  carried  out  some 
months  later.  He  says  : 

' '  .  .  .  the  great  result  attained  is  the  hardihood  and 
confidence  imparted  to  the  command,  which  is  now  better 
fitted  for  war.  Animals  and  men  returned  to  Vicksburg 
after  a  march  of  from  three  hundred  and  sixty  to  four  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles,  in  the  space  of  the  shortest  month  of 
the  year,  in  better  health  and  condition  than  when  we 
started."  ' 

As  there  was  no  conflict  beyond  skirmishing  of  any  great 
dignity,  the  casualties  of  this  campaign  were  but  nominal, 
considering  the  number  of  men  engaged,  being  but  one  hun 
dred  and  seventy  in  all. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  early  in  the  war,  the  French 
Emperor,  conjointly  with  England  and  Austria,  planned  the 
establishment  of  an  empire  in  Mexico,  and  French  troops 
had  been  sent  to  subjugate  that  country  to  Maximilian. 
This  threatened  the  southern  frontier  of  the  United  States, 
and  was  an  object  of  unceasing  distrust  and  protest  to  the 
Government  at  Washington.  It  had  long  been  the  thought 
of  General  Banks,  and  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army  at 
Washington,  that  it  was  desirable  for  the  Union  to  obtain  a 
stronger  foothold  than  it  possessed  in  the  State  of  Texas. 
General  Halleck,  in  a  letter  to  General  Grant  written  as 
early  as  the  8th  of  January,  1864,  says  : 

"  In  regard  to  General  Banks' s  campaign  against  Texas, 
it  is  proper  to  remark  that  it  was  undertaken  less  for  military 
reasons  than  as  a  matter  of  State  policy.  As  a  military 
measure,  simply,  it  perhaps  presented  less  advantages  than 
a  movement  on  Mobile  and  the  Alabama  River,  so  as  to 
threaten  the  enemy's  interior  lines  and  effect  a  diversion  in 
favor  of  our  armies  at  Chattanooga  and  in  East  Tennessee. 
But  however  this  may  have  been,  it  was  deemed  necessary 
as  a  matter  of  political  or  State  policy,  connected  with  our 
foreign  relations,  and  especially  with  France  and  Mexico, 

1  Ibid.,  p.  177. 


86  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

that  our  troops  should  occupy  and  hold  at  least  a  portion  of 
Texas.  The  President  so  considered  for  reasons  satisfactory 
to  himself  and  to  his  Cabinet,  and  it  was  therefore  unneces 
sary  for  us  to  inquire  whether  or  not  the  troops  could  have 
been  employed  elsewhere  with  greater  military  advantage. 
I  allude  to  this  matter  here  as  it  may  have  an  important  in 
fluence  on  your  projected  operations  during  the  present 
winter. 

"  Keeping  in  mind  that  General  Banks' s  operations  in 
Texas,  either  on  the  Gulf  coast  or  by  the  Louisiana  frontier 
must  be  continued  during  the  winter,  it  is  to  be  considered 
whether  it  will  not  be  better  to  direct  our  efforts  at  present 
to  the  entire  breaking  up  of  the  rebel  forces  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River,  rather  than  to  divide  them  by  operating 
against  Mobile  and  the  Alabama.  If  the  forces  of  Smith, 
Price,  and  Magruder  could  be  so  scattered  or  broken  as  to 
enable  Steele  and  Banks  to  occupy  Red  River  as  a  line  of 
defence,  a  part  of  their  armies  would  probably  become  avail 
able  for  operations  elsewhere. 

"  General  Banks  reports  his  present  force  as  inadequate 
for  the  defence  of  his  position  and  for  operations  in  the  in 
terior.  General  Steele  is  of  opinion  that  he  cannot  advance 
beyond  the  Arkansas  or  Sabine,  unless  he  can  be  certain  of 
co-operation  and  supplies  on  Red  River.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  it  is  worth  considering,  whether  such  forces  as 
Sherman  can  move  down  the  Mississippi  River  should  co 
operate  with  the  armies  of  Steele  and  Banks  on  the  west 
side."  ' 

And  prior  to  this,  as  early  as  the  6th  of  August,  1863, 
Halleck  sent  the  following  order  to  General  Grant  : 

"  Please  send  a  special  messenger  to  Major-General  Banks, 
with  the  following  telegram,  and  also  give  him  all  necessary 
assistance  for  its  execution  : 

'  Major-General  BANKS, 
"  '  New  Orleans, 

'  There  are  important  reasons  why  our  flag  should  be 
restored  in  some  point  of  Texas  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

1  Report  of  tke  Conduct  of  the  War,  vol.  ii.,  p.  135. 


Memoir  87 

Do  this  by  land,  at  Galveston  or  Indianola,  or  at  any  other 
point  you  may  deem  preferable.  If  by  sea,  Admiral  Farra- 
gut  will  co-operate.  There  are  reasons  why  the  movement 
should  be  as  prompt  as  possible. 

"  '  H.  W.  HALLECK, 
"  '  General-in-Chief.'  " 


This  dispatch  was  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
sent  to  General  Banks  by  the  hand  of  Colonel  Kilby  Smith, 
and  Banks,  acknowledging  it,  says  : 

"  Measures  have  been  already  taken  to  carry  into  effect 
your  orders.  I  shall  plant  the  flag  in  Texas  within  a  week, 
I  hope.  My  plan  has  been  to  move  against  Galveston  from 
the  land  side.  .  .  .  We  shall  be  ready,  I  think,  as  soon 
as  General  Grant's  corps  can  reach  us.  ...  No  move 
ment  can  be  made  from  the  Gulf  against  Galveston  with  a 
certainty  of  success.  .  .  .  The  enemy  fear  only  an  attack 
from  the  land  via  Niblet's  Bluff,  the  route  I  propose,  or 
Alexandria."  * 

Halleck  replies  under  date  of  August  loth  : 

"  In  my  opinion,  neither  Indianola  or  Galveston  is  the 
proper  point  to  attack.  If  it  is  necessary,  as  urged  by 
Seward,  that  the  flag  be  restored  to  some  one  point  in 
Texas,  that  can  be  best  and  most  safely  effected  by  a  com 
bined  military  and  naval  movement  up  the  Red  River  to 
Alexandria,  Natchitoches  or  Shreveport,  and  a  military 
occupation  of  Northern  Texas. ' '  a 

In  pursuance  of  the  first  plan,  General  Banks  sent  an  ex 
pedition  into  Texas  under  Major-General  Franklin  against 
Sabine  Pass.  It  was,  however,  unsuccessful.  Subsequently, 
he  endeavored  to  make  a  movement  into  the  Teche  country 
towards  Opolousas,  Alexandria,  and  Shreveport,  but,  he 
says  : 

' '  It  was  in  the  month  of  September  ;  there  was  no  water, 
it  involved  a  march  of  three  hundred  miles  ;  it  was  absolutely 
beyond  human  power  to  make  that  march  in  that  season 
with  wagon  transportation. ' ' 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  TOI,  102.  *  Ibid.)  p.  103.  3  Ibid.,  4. 


88  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

This,  therefore,  was  given  up.  Subsequently,  he  occupied 
Brownsville,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  directed  operations 
towards  Galveston.  While  engaged  in  this  operation,  he 
received  a  despatch  from  General  Halleck,  stating  : 

' '  All  the  Western  generals  were  in  favor  of  a  movement 
directly  upon  Shreveport  and  operations  against  Texas  from 
that  direction,  and  that  as  I  knew,  he  himself  had  always 
been  of  that  opinion."  1 

General  Banks  then  caused  a  memorial  to  be  prepared  by 
Major  D.  C.  Houston,  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  indicating  the 
preparations  necessary  for  the  expedition  to  Shreveport. 
These  suggestions  were  to  the  following  effect  : 

"  First,  that  all  the  troops  west  of  the  Mississippi  should 
be  concentrated  for  that  purpose  ; 

' '  Second,  that  they  should  all  be  put  under  the  command 
of  one  general  ; 

' '  Third,  that  considering  the  uncertainty  of  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Red  River,  a  line  of  supplies  should  be  estab 
lished  or  preparations  made  for  it  independent  of  water 
communications  ;  and, 

"  Fourth,  preparation  should  be  made  for  a  long  campaign 
so  that  if  we  reached  Shreveport  without  encountering  the 
enemy,  and  he  receded  from  Shreveport,  we  would  be  able  to 
follow  him  ;  the  military  being  of  the  opinion  that  it  was 
necessary  to  disperse  or  destroy  that  army,  and  not  merely 
to  take  the  place  and  hold  it. "  a 

General  Banks  goes  on  to  state  that  he  was  instructed  by 
the  Government  to  communicate  with  General  Steele  and 
General  Sherman,  and  that  everything  was  left  to  his  dis 
cretion  in  that  way.  This  complicated  his  position.  He 
was  not  under  the  command  of  either  Steele  or  Sherman,  nor 
were  they  under  his,  though  he  states  he  would  have  acted 
under  either  with  perfect  satisfaction.  On  the  5th  or  yth 
of  March,  General  Banks' s  forces  were  to  leave  Berwick  Bay, 
ten  days'  march  from  Alexandria  on  Red  River,  where  it 
was  appointed  for  him  to  meet  Sherman's  soldiers,  and  Steele 
was  to  come  with  his  troops  in  Arkansas  and  join  his  brother 

1  Ibid.,  5. 

5  Report  of  Com.  on  Con.  of  War,  General  Banks's  Testimony,  p.  5. 


Memoir  89 

generals  at  Grand  Kcore  on  the  Red  River.  This  was  only 
an  understanding,  and,  as  will  subsequently  appear,  through 
no  fault  of  Steele's  was  not  carried  out. 

General  Sherman,  with  characteristic  promptitude,  ordered 
details  to  be  made  from  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Army 
Corps,  (ten  thousand  men  in  all)  divided  into  two  divisions, 
the  detachments  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  being  under  the 
command  of  Brig. -Gen.  Joseph  A.  Mower,  those  of  the  Seven 
teenth  under  Brig. -Gen.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith  ;  the  whole  de 
tachment  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  being  commanded 
by  Brig. -Gen.  A.  J.  Smith.  These  soldiers  and  their  officers 
had  but  just  returned  from  the  expedition  to  Meridian. 
They  were  in  high  spirits,  and  veterans.  General  Sherman 
only  lent  this  fine  body  of  soldiers  to  Banks  for  thirty  days, 
as  he  was  then  contemplating  his  movement  on  Atlanta,  and 
it  was  thought  that  they  could  complete  the  expedition  to 
Shreveport  within  that  time.  Banks,  himself,  reached 
Alexandria  on  the  24th  of  March,  but  his  troops  did  not 
arrive  until  the  26th,  eight  days  later  than  he  expected. 
The  army  thus  gathered  at  Alexandria  was  under  command 
of  Banks;  A.  J.  Smith,  though  essentially  independent,  acting 
in  subordination  to  him.  An  important  part  of  the  expedi 
tion  was  that  assigned  to  the  fleet  under  Admiral  Porter, 
which  was  to  ascend  the  Red  River  and  take  part  in  the  re 
duction  of  Fort  De  Russy,  and  then  proceed  to  Alexandria. 
General  Sherman's  plan  was  to  follow  the  enemy  toward 
Shreveport  while  Porter's  fleet  with  transports  bearing  stores, 
should  ascend  the  river  and  meet  the  army  at  that  point. 

On  the  yth  of  March,  1864,  by  special  order  No.  63,  from 
Major-General  McPherson,  General  Kilby  Smith  had  been 
assigned  to  the  command  of  a  division  made  up  as  follows  : 
the  3d  Iowa  Infantry,  Lieut. -Col.  James  Willis,  command 
ing  ;  4ist  Illinois,  Lieut-Col.  J.  H.  Nale,  commanding  ; 
33d  Wisconsin,  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  commanding — forming  a 
brigade  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Pugh,  the  4ist  Illi 
nois,  senior  officer,  subsequently  relieved  by  Col.  J.  B. 
Moore,  of  the  33d  Wisconsin  ;  also,  the  i4th  Wisconsin, 
Lieut. -Col.  J.  W.  Polleys,  commanding  ;  95th  Illinois,  Col. 
T.  W.  Humphrey,  commanding  ;  8ist  Illinois,  Lieut. -Col. 


QO  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

A.  W.  Rogers,  commanding — forming  a  brigade  under  the 
command  of  Col.  Lyman  Ward  of  the  i4th  Wisconsin,  senior 
officer  ;  also  M  company  of  the  ist  Missouri  Light  Artillery. 

General  Kilby  Smith's  personal  staff  consisted  of  the  fol 
lowing  officers  : 

Capt.  William  Warner,  Co.  D,  33d  Wisconsin  Infantry, 
A.A.A.Gen. 

Capt.  Wm.  L.  Scott,  Co.  F,  33d  Wisconsin  Infantry, 
A.A.A.Gen. 

Capt.  John  H.  Wetmore,  Co.  H,  95th  Illinois,  A.D.C. 

Surgeon  Charles  Carle,  4ist  Illinois,  Surgeon-in-Chief. 

Lieut.  James  H.  Lukin,  Co.  F,  3d  Iowa,  A.A.D.C. 

Lieut.  W.  C.  B.  Gillespie,  Adjutant  4ist  Illinois  Infantry, 
A.A.Q.M. 

Gen.  Kilby  Smith  wrote  an  informal,  unofficial  letter  to 
General  McPherson,  which  shows  the  operations  of  A.  J. 
Smith's  command  to  the  i6th  of  March,  as  follows  : 

"  HDQRS.  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,' 
"RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION,  FORT  DE  RUSSY,  March  16,  1864. 

"  GENERAL : 

' '  Agreeably  to  your  request  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit 
unofficially  brief  statement  of  progress  of  the  naval  forces 
and  General  A.  J.  Smith's  command  in  the  Red  River  expe 
dition  to  present  date,  12  M.:  the  fleet  of  transports  sailed 
from  Vicksburg  at  7  P.M.  on  Thursday,  loth  instant.  The 
detachment  I  have  the  honor  to  command  embarked  on 
steamers  Hastings,  Aidocrat,  John  Raine,  and  Diana.  Ar 
rived  at  the  mouth  of  Red  River  and  reported  to  Admiral 
Porter  on  Friday  at  noon.  Saturday,  10  A.M.  sailed  up  Red 
River  and  Atchafalaya,  under  orders  and  signals  from  flag 
ship  Black  Hawk,  to  Simmsport.  Morning  of  Sunday  de 
barked  my  own  command  for  inspection,  review,  and  drill 
by  regiments.  At  7  P.M.  received  marching  orders  and  at 
8  P.M.  marched,  bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  column  ;  re 
paired  bridges  through  the  night.  Roads  for  the  most  part 
bad  and  swampy,  and  bivouacked  at  4  A.M.  Monday,  eight 
miles  from  Simmsport.  Meanwhile  General  A.  J.  Smith,  with 
1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  p.  376. 


Memoir  9 1 

General  Mower's  command,  had  reconnoitred  the  front, 
driven  four  regiments  of  the  enemy  from  a  fortification  situ 
ate  some  five  miles  from  Simmsport,  and  was  heading  across 
country  for  Moreauville,  on  Bayou  De  Glaize.  Gave  my 
troops  rest  two  hours.  At  6  o'clock  took  up  the  line  of 
march,  moving  forward  rapidly  till  n  o'clock,  when  I  halted, 
ordered  coffee  for  the  men  and  fed  the  animals.  Meanwhile 
pioneers  were  reconstructing  bridge  by  the  enemy  destroyed. 
At  noon  resumed  march,  which  till  this  time  has  led  us 
through  a  rich  and  highly  cultivated  country,  past  extensive 
corn-fields  and  sugar-houses.  Now  crossing  the  bayou  and 
penetrating  a  swamp  for  a  few  miles,  we  suddenly  emerged  on 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  prairies  imaginable,  high  table-land, 
gently  undulating,  watered  by  little  lakes,  with  occasional 
groves,  the  landscape  dotted  with  tasteful  houses,  gardens  and 
shrubberies.  This  prairie,  called  Avoyelles,  is  settled  ex 
clusively  by  French  emigrants,  many  of  whom,  as  our  army 
passed,  sought  shelter  under  the  tricolor  of  France.  Push 
ing  forward  rapidly,  we  gained  Marksville  at  5.30  P.M. 
Deserters  had  warned  us  that  the  enemy  were  on  our  left 
flank  and  rear  as  early  as  3  o'clock.  My  troops  were  well 
closed.  Two  and  a  half  miles  beyond  Marksville,  at  5.30, 
I  formed  line  of  battle,  my  right  resting  immediately  on  the 
left  of  the  advanced  forces  ;  transportation  and  ambulances 
parked  far  to  the  rear.  As  my  command  came  to  front  brisk 
musketry  firing  commenced  at  the  fort  ;  some  shells  fell  to 
the  rear  and  right  of  my  line.  I  was  ordered  by  the  general 
commanding  to  look  well  to  my  rear  and  left  wing,  that  I 
might  anticipate  attack  from  Walker  with  six  thousand 
Texans.  At  6.30  news  was  brought  me  that  the  fort  had 
surrendered.  I  threw  out  heavy  pickets,  stacked  arms,  and 
went  into  bivouac. 

11  In  summary,  I  may  remark  that  on  the  izj-th  instant  the 
command  marched  twenty-eight  and  a  half  miles,  built  a  sub 
stantial  bridge  sixty  feet  in  length,  repaired  minor  ones,  and 
took  a  fort  between  sunrise  and  sunset.  But  one  brigade  (Col. 
W.  C.  Ward's  [W.  T.  Shaw's  ?],  of  Mower's  command)  was 
actively  engaged.  Their  casualties  were  2  killed,  33  wounded. 
The  substantial  results  334  prisoners,  24  officers  (from  lieuten- 


92  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ant-colonel  to  third  lieutenant),  large  amount  of  commissary 
and  ordnance,  and  ordnance  stores,  as  per  schedule  I  have  the 
honor  to  transmit  herewith.  I  also  enclose  draught '  of  forti 
fications  and  topographical  map  1  of  country  immediately 
circumjacent.  Meanwhile  convoy  and  fleet  had  made  slow 
and  devious  way  through  the  tortuous  windings  of  the  Red, 
whose  navigation  at  present  stage  of  water  is  difficult. 
Rapid  current,  frequent  eddies,  sharp  bends,  and  snags  are 
the  natural  obstacles.  To  these  the  enemy  had  added  rafts 
and  spiles.  As  the  fort  surrendered  the  Black  Hawk  rounded 
to,  and  shortly  afterward  the  general  commanding  received 
the  congratulations  of  the  admiral,  who  he  will  compliment 
by  present  of  the  Q-inch  piece  of  the  Indianola  and  the  pieces 
of  the  Harriet  Lane,  recaptured.  The  quartermaster  has  no 
paint,  however,  and  we  shall  not  be  able  to  repeat  the  in 
scriptions  of  Haines  BlufE 

"  My  command  is  in  occupation  of  the  fort,  and  will  be 
engaged  to-day  and  to-morrow  in  the  demolition  of  the  case 
mates,  bridges,  etc. ,  and  finally  the  blowing  up  of  the  maga 
zine.  The  main  body,  under  the  command  of  General 
Mower,  convoyed  by  Admiral  Porter,  sailed  last  night  for 
Alexandria,  where  I  expect  to  join  them  in  three  days. 
General  A.  J.  Smith  remains  with  me  ;  also  the  gunboat 
Bcnton,  Captain  Greer.  My  command  is  in  excellent  health 
and  fine  spirits  ;  deserve  compliment  for  their  steadiness, 
discipline,  and  marching  qualities.  Dispatch-boat  waits  my 
orders.  I  write  hurriedly,  or  rather  dictate  from  horseback. 
Shall  hope  to  send  very  good  account  of  my  stewardship. 

' '  I  meanwhile  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  highest  respect, 
your  obedient  servant  and  friend, 

"  THOS.  KIUBY  SMITH, 
"  Brigadier-General,  Commanding. 
"  Maj.-Gen.  J.  B.  McPHKRSON, 

"  Comdg.  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  Vicksburg. 

"P.  S.  : — I  send  Colonel  Nale  with  prisoners  and  dis 
patches  to  Baton  Rouge.  Opportunity  permitting,  he  will 
make  written  reports,  filing  them  on  his  return. 

"Haste,  "T.  K.  S." 

1  Not  found. 


Memoir  93 

After  the  capture  of  Fort  De  Russy  and  the  assembling  of 
the  army  at  and  about  Alexandria,  which,  as  has  been  said, 
was  not  fully  completed  till  the  26th  of  March,  by  reason  of 
the  delay  of  Banks' s  immediate  command,  consisting  of  the 
Nineteenth  and  detachments  of  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps, 
General  Banks  planned  to  march  on  the  inland  roads  towards 
Shreveport ;  the  fleet,  meantime,  to  make  its  way  up  the  Red 
River  to  Springfield  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles  from  Shreveport,  and  there  to  communicate  with  the 
main  body  of  the  army.  Prior  to  the  arrival  of  Banks' s 
troops,  he  had  come  in  person  to  Alexandria,  while  A.  J. 
Smith  had  busied  himself  by  sending  Mower  on  the  2ist  to 
capture  a  post  of  the  enemy  at  Henderson's  Hill,  a  brilliant 
affair  in  which  that  officer  had  been  entirely  successful,  cap 
turing  almost  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy,  some  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men,  with  their  horses*  and  four  guns.  After 
this  affair,  A.  J.  Smith's  command  had  proceeded  as  far  as 
Bayou  Rapide,  twenty-one  miles  beyond  Alexandria,  in  the 
direction  of  Shreveport.  In  pursuance  of  the  general  plan, 
General  Kilby  Smith's  division  was  assigned  as  an  escort 
to  the  fleet,  and  therefore  had  no  part  in  operations  of  the 
main  body  of  the  army  until  a  later  date.  Banks' s  com 
mand  was  weakened  by  the  necessity  of  returning  three 
thousand  men  composing  the  marine  brigade  with  their  ves 
sels  to  General  McPherson  at  Vicksburg,  where  they  were 
needed  for  the  special  duty  of  guarding  the  Mississippi 
River  from  raids.  This  force  was  really  not  needed  under 
the  circumstances,  inasmuch  as  the  vessels  were  unable  to 
pass  the  rapids  of  the  Red  River  near  Alexandria,  which  the 
fleet  of  Porter's  heavier  iron-clads  had  difficulty  in  ascend 
ing.  A  depot  of  supplies  was  established  at  Alexandria,  and 
the  command  of  General  Grover  aggregating  three  thousand 
men,  was  left  to  protect  it.  Banks  had  with  him,  therefore, 
when  he  began  to  move  forward  from  Alexandria,  a  force 
of  about  twenty  thousand  men.  He  anticipated  aid  from 
Steele,  who  had  moved  out  from  Little  Rock  to  make  his  way 
across  country  to  the  rendezvous  at  or  near  Shreveport. 
Before  the  main  body  of  troops  had  passed  up  the  rapids 
on  the  28th  of  March,  a  portion  of  Banks' s  column  had 


94  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

advanced  to  Natchitoches.  The  water  in  the  river  was 
continually  falling  and  Banks  was  anticipating  a  reduction 
of  his  numbers  by  the  withdrawal  of  General  A.  J.  Smith's 
command,  which  as  has  been  said  had  been  promised  him  by 
Sherman  for  but  thirty  days.  The  military  situation  at  this 
time  was  far  from  satisfactory.  Steele  was  at  such  a  distance 
that  it  was  impossible  for  Banks  to  communicate  with  him  ex 
cepting  at  long  intervals  ;  the  country  through  which  his 
march  lay  was  in  large  part  heavily  timbered  with  but  a  nar 
row  road  through  which  wagons  could  pass  each  other  only 
with  great  difficulty.  His  march  into  the  interior  separated 
him  from  the  fleet  of  Porter,  and  the  season  was  rapidly  ad 
vancing.  General  Grant  was  anxious  to  have  the  detach 
ment  of  Sherman's  men  returned  to  him  in  order  to  become  a 
part  in  the  grand  movement  upon  Atlanta,  which  was  planned 
to  take  place  simultaneously  with  that  on  Richmond  ;  and  so 
earnest  was  the  General-in-Chief  in  this  behalf,  that  he  dis 
patched  Banks  word  ( '  I  had  rather  that  the  Red  River  ex 
pedition  had  never  been  begun  than  that  you  should  be 
detained  one  day  beyond  the  first  of  May  in  commencing  the 
movements  east  of  the  Mississippi."  Meantime  the  Confed 
erates  were  gathering  their  forces  from  Texas  and  Arkansas 
under  Taylor,  Price,  Green  and  others,  and  had  a  force  of 
about  twenty-five  thousand  men  in  the  various  commands  to 
bring  against  the  Union  advance.  On  the  6th  of  April  Banks 
moved  forward  from  Natchitoches  to  cover  the  one  hundred 
miles  that  lay  between  him  and  Shreveport,  with  the  com 
mand  of  General  Franklin  in  the  advance,  with  General 
A.  L.  Lee's  cavalry  in  the  van  followed  by  two  divisions  of 
the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps  under  Ransom  ;  Emory  followed 
Ransom  with  the  First  Division  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps.  On 
the  yth,  A.  J.  Smith  followed  with  the  Sixteenth  Corps.  Skir 
mishing  had  taken  place  with  Confederates  as  early  as  the  2d. 
On  the  7th  the  advance  of  the  army  had  passed  Pleasant 
Hill,  and  at  a  distance  of  nine  miles  further  came  upon  the 
Confederate  army  at  Carroll's  Plantation.  On  the  8th,  Lee 
found  himself  at  a  clearing  in  the  woods  at  a  distance  of 
three  or  four  miles  below  Mansfield,  called  "  Sabine  Cross 
Roads,"  and  here  his  further  advance  was  blocked  by  the 


Memoir  95 

rebel  trans- Mississippi  army,  fully  twenty  thousand  strong. 
His  position  was  a  most  critical  one,  with  no  infantry  to 
support  him,  and  having  in  his  rear  an  enormous  train  of 
baggage  wagons  and  artillery,  in  a  country  unfitted  for  the 
operations  of  cavalry.  He  was  forced  to  give  battle  under 
most  disadvantageous  circumstances.  He  sent  urgent  request 
for  support  and  infantry  was  moved  forward  by  Franklin 
to  aid  him.  About  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon  the  Con 
federate  forces  made  so  vehement  an  attack  that  the  Union 
troops  were  compelled  to  fall  back  with  heavy  loss.  About 
five  in  the  afternoon  the  enemy  turned  Lee's  flanks  and  strik 
ing  his  centre  heavily,  he  was  driven  back  upon  his  supply 
trains,  and  his  way  of  retreat  being  blocked,  he  lost  ten  guns 
from  Ransom's  forces  that  had  come  to  his  aid,  together  with 
one  thousand  men  captured  and  nearly  all  of  his  wagons  filled 
with  supplies.  The  retreat  became  a  rout,  and  the  whole 
command  demoralized  and  panic-stricken,  fled  before  the 
exultant  foe.  In  order  to  understand  the  situation,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Banks' s  army  was  scattered  at  too  great 
a  distance  between  the  separate  commands  to  enable  them 
adequately  to  support  each  other.  As  the  defeated  forces  of 
Lee  and  Ransom  of  Franklin's  command,  or  what  was  left 
of  them,  rushed  to  the  rear,  they  came  upon  the  columns  of 
Kmory  who  had  taken  position  at  Pleasant  Grove,  three  miles 
to  the  rear  of  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  and  as  the  defeated  forces 
came  upon  his  line,  he  opened  to  let  them  pass.  The  Con 
federates  pressed  forward,  but  were  met  with  so  heavy  and 
well-concentrated  a  fire,  that  they  recoiled.  Although  the 
loss  inflicted  by  them  upon  the  Union  forces  was  heavier 
than  that  which  they  sustained  themselves,  they  met  a  severe 
check  in  their  onward  movement.  When  night  fell,  Banks 
thought  best  to  fall  back  fifteen  miles  further  to  the  rear  to 
Pleasant  Hill,  reaching  that  point  the  following  morning 
the  Qth  of  April.  Here  he  was  joined  by  the  forces  of  Gen 
eral  A.  J.  Smith  and  the  whole  command  was  united  excepting 
the  detachment  on  the  Red  River  under  command  of  General 
Kilby  Smith,  and  the  soldiers  who  had  been  left  at  Alexan 
dria  under  Grover.  Anticipating  a  continuance  of  the 
attack  by  the  Confederates,  the  Union  forces  were  disposed 


96  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

to  receive  them,  and  about  noon  an  attack  was  made.  During 
the  afternoon  the  battle  became  animated,  and  when  dark 
ness  closed,  the  Confederates  were  defeated,  after  a  loss  of 
many  of  their  best  officers  and  men.  After  this  success  it 
was  at  first  thought  that  the  forward  movement  would  be 
renewed,  but  after  a  conference  with  his  officers,  the  com 
manding  general  concluded  that  he  could  not  successfully 
prosecute  the  object  as  first  planned,  and  to  the  great  disap 
pointment  of  his  troops,  at  least  that  portion  of  them  under 
the  command  of  A.  J.  Smith,  he  concluded  to  continue  the 
retreat.  In  the  severe  battles  on  the  yth,  8th,  and  gth  of 
April,  he  had  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing  nearly 
four  thousand  men,  twenty  pieces  of  artillery,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  wagons  and  many  horses  and  mules.  The  retro 
grade  movement  had  a  most  disheartening  effect  upon  his 
troops,  who  had  lost  all  confidence  in  his  capacity,  while  the 
forces  of  the  Confederates,  distributed  by  Taylor,  their  im 
mediate  commander,  were  actively  harassing  his  every  move 
ment.  In  all  probability,  Banks  adopted  the  wisest  course 
in  deciding  to  retreat,  though  he  did  so  with  a  precipitation 
that  was  quite  unnecessary.  The  waters  of  the  Red  River, 
instead  of  having  risen  as  was  customary  at  that  season  of 
the  year,  were  obstinately  falling,  and  in  order  to  have 
reached  Shreveport  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  it 
was  necessary  to  keep  open  a  long  line  of  communications. 
Even  had  he  attained  that  point,  it  is  doubtful  whether  his 
forces  would  have  been  adequate  to  have  crushed  the  enemy 
under  Kirby  Smith's  command,  who  were  opposed  to  him. 
Of  his  personal  courage  and  integrity  there  could  be  no 
doubt,  but  his  incapacity  for  the  command  of  large  bodies  of 
men  in  the  field,  had  been  made  obvious  and  unless  he  had 
been  immediately  superseded  and  a  competent  soldier  put  in 
his  place,  it  would  have  been,  perhaps  more  hazardous  to 
have  advanced  than  to  retreat.  It  is  vain  to  speculate  upon 
what  might  have  been.  The  great  expedition  that  had  set 
forth  with  such  high  hopes  and  such  splendid  equipment, 
had  become  a  disastrous  failure,  and  nothing  remained  but 
to  extricate  the  army  and  the  fleet  from  the  trap  into  which 
it  had  fallen.  The  main  army,  therefore,  withdrew  to  the 
Red  River  at  Grand  Ecore. 


Memoir  9  7 

While  these  untoward  events  were  occurring  to  their  com 
rades,  the  command  of  General  Kilby  Smith  on  the  trans 
ports  and  Admiral  Porter's  fleet  had  made  their  way  in 
obedience  to  their  orders  to  Springfield  landing  at  Loggy 
Bayou.  Here  their  course  was  stayed  by  an  obstruction  in 
the  river, — a  sunken  steamboat,  the  New  Falls  City,  which 
stretched  across  the  channel,  loaded  with  mud,  and  which 
must  have  been  removed  to  permit  their  further  advance. 
While  Admiral  Porter  and  General  Smith  were  debating  on 
the  course  to  take  to  remove  this  obstacle,  word  reached 
them  of  the  defeat  of  the  main  army,  with  orders  to  fall  back 
at  once  to  Grand  Kcore.  The  narrative  of  their  adventures 
appears  in  the  report  of  General  Smith,  which  follows  : 

"  HDQRS.  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,' 
"ON  STEAMER  HASTINGS,  GRAND  BCORE,  LA.,  April  16,  1864. 

"  CAPTAIN  : 

' '  I  respectfully  submit  the  following  report,  in  accordance 
with  orders  from  General  A.  J.  Smith,  commanding  Red 
River  expedition  :  On  the  yth  instant  I  received  the  follow 
ing  order  and  letter  of  instructions  from  General  A.  J.  Smith  : 

"  '  HEADQUARTERS  RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION, 

'"ON  STEAMER  CI.ARA  BEW,,  April  7,  1864. 

"  '  Brig. -Gen.  T.  K.  SMITH, 

"  '  Comdg.  Division,  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  : 
<c  '  GENERAL  : 

"  '  You  will  take  charge  of  the  river  transportation  be 
longing  to  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  and 
will  conduct  it  to  the  mouth  of  Loggy  Bayou,  opposite 
Springfield,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Cannisnia,  and  will  then, 
after  a  careful  reconnoissance  toward  Springfield  disembark 
one  regiment  and  push  it  forward  to  Bayou  Pierre,  and  hold 
the  bridge  at  that  point.  On  arriving  at  Mansfield  I  will 
endeavor  to  communicate  with  you  at  Springfield,  and  it 
may  be  send  for  supplies.  From  Mansfield  you  will  receive 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  p.  379. 


98  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

further  orders  in  regard  to  your  movement  toward  Shreve- 
port. 

' '  '  I  am,  General,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  '  A.  J.  SMITH, 
"  '  Brigadier-General,  Commanding.' 

' '  With  the  letter  of  instructions  I  received  a  verbal  order 
from  General  Smith  to  communicate  with  Rear-Admiral 
Porter  previous  to  starting,  and  intimation  to  consult  with 
him  during  the  progress  of  the  fleet.  In  obedience  to  orders, 
on  the  7 th  of  April  I  embarked  my  command  on  the  follow 
ing  steamboats  :  Hastings,  Emerald,  W.  L.  Ewing,  Thos.  E. 
Tutt,  and  the  Sioux  City,  and  the  following  boats  reported 
to  me  for  orders  :  Clara  Bell,  Liberty,  Hamilton,  Jf.  H.  Lacy, 
Mars,  Des  Moines,  Adriatic,  Southwester,  and  Diadem,  and 
issued  the  following  order  : 

"Special  Orders) 
"No  21.         > 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"STEAMER  HASTINGS,  GRAND  KCORE,  LA.,  April  7,  1864. 

"  i.  The  fleet  will  be  prepared  to  sail  at  n  A.M.  in  the 
following  order  :  i,  Hastings  ;  2,  Clara  Bell ;  3,  Emerald ;  4, 
W.  L.  Ewing  ;  5,  Liberty  ;  6,  Hamilton  ;  7,  J .  H.  Lacy  ;  8, 
Thomas  E.  Tutt;  9,  Sioux  City  ;  10,  Mars  ;  n,  Des  Moines  ; 
12,  Adriatic;  13,  Southwester ;  14,  Diadem. 

"  The  same  orders  and  signals  as  heretofore  will  be  en 
forced  and  strictly  followed. 

"  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  commanding  First  Brigade,  will 
furnish  a  company,  properly  officered,  to  each  of  the  follow 
ing  boats  as  a  guard  :  Clara  Bell,  Liberty,  Hamilton,  and  J '. 
H.  Lacy.  Col.  L,.  M.  Ward,  commanding  Second  Brigade, 
will  furnish  a  like  guard  to  the  steamers  Mars,  Des  Moines, 
Adriatic,  Southwester,  and  Diadem. 

'  The  officers  in  command  of  the  guard  will  be  held 
strictly  accountable  for  the  conduct  of  their  men.  The 
guard  to  be  divided  into  proper  reliefs,  and  must  not  take 
off  their  accoutrements  while  on  guard.  None  of  the  trans 
ports  will  land  or  troops  debark,  except  by  order  of  the  com 
manding  general  or  brigade  commanders. 


Memoir  99 


"At  i  P.M.  the  fleet  sailed  and  arrived  at  Campti  at  5 
P.M.,  when  the  following  order  was  issued  : 

"  Special  Orders  1 

"NO.  22.  I 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"  CAMPTI,  LA.,  April  7,  1864. 

"  I.  Whenever  the  fleet  lands  for  the  night,  Col.  J.  B. 
Moore,  commanding  First  Brigade,  will  throw  out  a  strong 
picket  on  the  bank,  covering  the  fleet  from  the  steamer 
Hastings  to  the  steamer  Thomas  E.  Tutt.  Colonel  L.  M. 
Ward,  commanding  Second  Brigade,  will  establish  a  like 
picket,  covering  all  the  fleet  in  the  rear  of  the  steamer 
Thomas  E.  Tutt,  his  line  joining  that  of  Colonel  Moore. 
The  pickets  will  be  posted  under  the  direction  of  the  brigade 
officer  of  the  day.  The  pickets  will  be  instructed  to  come  in 
at  the  signal  for  starting — one  long  whistle. 

"  II.  The  order  of  march  is  modified  as  follows  :  Clara 
Bell  will  move  in  the  extreme  rear  of  the  fleet,  under  con 
voy  of  the  gunboat  Chillicothe,  and  will  report  to  the  com 
manding  officer  of  the  same  for  orders. 

"  III.  The  following  boats  that  have  not  reported  for 
orders  will  sail  immediately  in  rear  of  the  fleet  in  the  follow 
ing  order  :  i,  Rob  Roy ;  2,  Ibe rville /  3,  John  Warner ;  4, 
Universe;  5,  Colonel  Cowles ;  6,  Meteor. 

"  IV.  The  Black  Hawk,  General  Banks' s  headquarters 
boat,  will  move  immediately  in  rear  of  the  steamer  Hastings 
and  as  consort.  I^ieut.  A.  J.  Boyington,  95th  Illinois  Volun 
teers,  will  report  with  his  company  on  board  steamer  Black 
Hawk  as  guard  till  further  orders. 

"V.  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  commanding  First  Brigade,  will 
furnish  each  of  the  following  boats  with  a  guard  of  at  least 
twenty-five  men,  under  command  of  a  commissioned  officer  : 
Rob  Roy,  Iberville,  John  Warner,  and  Universe.  Colonel  L. 
M.  Ward,  commanding  Second  Brigade,  will  furnish  each 
of  the  following  boats  with  a  like  guard  :  Colonel  Cowles, 
Meteor,  and  Shreveport. 


ioo  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

' '  I  also  issued  the  following  general  order  : 

"General  Orders! 
"  No.  7.          > 

"HDQRS.  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"STEAMER  HASTINGS,  CAMPTI,  LA.,  April  7,  1864. 

' '  Each  transport  of  the  fleet  will  be  governed  by  the  sig 
nals  ordered  by  the  rear-admiral  commanding  Mississippi 
squadron,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  posted  in  the  pilot-house. 
They  will  keep  their  position  indicated  in  the  order  of  march. 
If  accident  occurs  to  any  boat,  the  fleet  will  stop  till  the 
necessary  repairs  are  made.  No  boat  will  land  for  fuel  or 
any  purpose  save  by  order,  and  transports  will  frequently 
communicate  their  condition  and  requirements  to  the  com 
manding  general  on  the  headquarters  boat  Hastings.  The 
most  rigid  discipline  will  be  enforced  by  military  com 
manders,  not  only  upon  the  soldiers  who  guard  the  boats, 
but  the  crews  and  servants  of  the  same,  being  careful,  how 
ever,  to  treat  steamboat  officers  with  courtesy,  and  avoiding 
improper  interference  with  the  navigation  of  the  boats. 
Pillaging  will  not  be  countenanced,  and  officers  will  be  held 
personally  and  strictly  accountable  for  their  commands. 

"  Attention  is  directed  to  special  orders  No.  21,  prohibit 
ing  the  landing  of  soldiers  without  orders,  and  the  same 
order  will  apply  to  the  officers,  crews,  and  servants  of  the 
boats. 

' '  Learning  from  scouts  at  Campti,  that  the  enemy  was  in 
the  vicinity,  I  ordered  Colonel  Moore  to  send  a  regiment  to 
reconnoitre.  The  result  of  their  recomioissance  was  advices 
that  the  enemy  passed  up  the  river  rapidly. 

"  April  8th,  got  under  way  at  10.30  A.M.,  being  delayed  by 
the  Iberville  getting  aground  and  the  necessity  of  relieving 
her  of  a  portion  of  her  cargo,  she  drawing  at  that  time  six 
feet  six  inches.  Arrived  at  Coushatta  Point  at  6  P.M.,  and 
learning  that  the  enemy  were  at  or  near  the  chute,  six  miles 
above  by  water  and  three  miles  by  land,  I  ordered  Colonel 
Ward  to  debark  his  brigade  and  proceed  to  Coushatta  Chute, 
with  instructions  to  keep  up  communication  with  me  through 


Memoir  \  b  i 


the  night,  and  be  prepared  to  re-embark  at  that  place  in  the 
morning.  The  enemy  retired  before  them,  and  during  the 
night  two  prisoners  were  sent  in  ;  one  Capt.  Richard  S. 
Venables,  detached  to  burn  cotton.  April  9th,  got  under  way 
at  9  A.M.  Shortly  after  re-embarked  Colonel  Ward's  com 
mand  and  arrived  at  Nine-Mile  Bend  at  5.30  P.M.  On  the  8th 
and  gth,  we  heard  rumors  of  the  battle,  but  mostly  going  to 
show  that  the  enemy  were  defeated  and  in  full  retreat.  April 
loth,  got  under  way  at  10  A.M.,  arriving  at  Loggy  Bayou 
at  2  P.M.  At  that  point  the  large  steamboat  New  Falls  City 
had  been  thrown  across  the  river  by  the  enemy,  heavily 
loaded  with  mud,  and  sunk.  Agreeably  to  our  instructions, 
I  immediately  debarked  troops  for  reconnoissance,  and  while 
placing  my  command  received  a  verbal  message,  through 
Colonel  Taylor,  delivered  by  Captain  Andrew,  from  General 
Banks,  to  return,  the  messenger  at  the  same  time  announcing 
reverses  at  Mansfield.  I  consulted  with  Rear-  Admiral 
Porter,  and  ordered  the  fleet  to  back  down  the  river  in  the 
order  the  boats  then  lay,  the  rearmost  boat  to  take  the  lead 
down  stream  and  turn  as  the  bayous  and  pockets  of  the 
stream  might  afford  facility.  The  river  was  exceedingly 
narrow  and  tortuous,  the  bottom  covered  with  logs  and 
snags,  and  the  banks  full  of  drift,  rendering  the  navigation 
most  difficult  and  dangerous.  In  the  course  of  the  night  I 
succeeded  in  getting  the  fleet  turned,  and,  April  nth,  got 
fairly  under  way  at  6.30  A.M.,  and  arrived  at  Coushatta 
Chute  at  8  P.M.,  meeting  but  trifling  resistance  from  the 
Here  I  received  the  followin  written  order  : 


"  ON  THE  ROAD,  April  10,  1864. 
"  '  Brig.  -Gen.  KILBY  SMITH, 

'  '  '  Commanding  Division  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  : 
'  '  '  The  general  commanding  directs  that  you  return  im 
mediately  to  Grand  Bcore  with  supply  steamers  and  your 
entire  command.     Please  report  to  him  upon  your  arrival. 
"  '  By  command  of  Major-  General  Banks, 

"  '  GKO.  B.  DRAKE, 
"  '  Assistant  Adjutant-  General." 

'  '  April  1  2th,  sailed  at  7  A.M.     This  day  the  navigation  was 


jQ2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

exceedingly  difficult,  and  almost  all  of  the  transports  were  in 
a  crippled  condition,  rudders  unshipped  and  wheels  broken. 
I  felt  it  necessary  to  separate  the  fleet  as  much  as  possible 
to  avoid  collisions  in  turning  the  bends.  Keeping  the  troop 
transports  under  my  eye  and  control,  the  admiral  having 
preceded  me  in  the  lead,  I  kept  to  the  rear  of  the  fleet.  At 
12  M.  the  enemy  began  to  appear  in  considerable  numbers,  and, 
firing  on  the  Meteor,  killed  one  man.  Desultory  firing  was 
kept  up  continuously  until,  at  4  o'clock,  the  Hastings  went 
under  the  bank  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  near  Pleasant 
Hill  Landing,  to  repair  wheel,  which  had  become  unservice 
able  ;  the  Alice  Vivian,  a  boat  that  had  reported  the  day  be 
fore,  lying  midway  in  the  stream,  fast  aground.  The  Black 
Hawk  towing  the  gunboat  Osage,  the  Vivian  signalled  for 
help.  I  ordered  the  Clara  Bell  to  report  to  her.  Clara  Bell 
failing  to  move  her,  the  Emerald was  ordered  to  her.  About 
this  time  the  Rob  Roy  ran  astern  of  the  Black  Hawk,  and  the 
enemy,  a  brigade  about  twelve  hundred  strong,  with  four 
field-pieces,  commanded  by  General  Green  of  Texas,  formed 
upon  the  bank,  putting  their  pieces  in  battery  within  point- 
blank  range  of  the  Hastings,  the  nearest  boat.  The  Neosho x 
and  Lexington  (gunboats)  at  this  time  were  lying  on  the 
opposite  bank,  half  a  mile  up.  I  ordered  the  Hastings  to 
cast  off,  and  just  as  we  got  under  way  the  battery  opened 
upon  us,  the  first  shot  falling  a  little  short,  the  others  over 
us  ;  their  practice  was  defective.  Getting  a  good  position 
upon  the  opposite  shore  I  opened  upon  them  with  one  section 
of  Lieutenant  Tiemayer's  battery,  one  gun  of  which  was 
mounted  upon  the  hurricane  deck  of  the  Emerald,  the  siege 
guns,  which  were  upon  the  forecastle  of  the  Rob  Roy,  and 
the  howitzer  from  the  hurricane  deck  of  the  Black  Hawk,  the 
latter  admirably  handled  by  Colonel  Abert,  of  General 
Banks'  s  staff.  We  killed  their  battery  horses  and  they 
changed  position  repeatedly,  moving  their  guns  up  by  hand. 
Meanwhile  their  sharpshooters  had  deployed  up  the  river, 
and  sheltered  behind  the  cottonwoods  that  lined  the  banks 
immediately  opposite  the  boats,  from  whence  they  poured  in 
an  incessant  fire.  My  soldiers  were  all  upon  the  hurricane 

1  In  another  copy  this  appears  as  Osage. 


Memoir  '  103 

decks,  protected  by  cotton  bales,  bales  of  hay,  and  sacks  of 
oats,  sufficient  barricade  to  rifle  balls,  enabling  them  to 
mark  the  enemy  with  deadly  aim.  After  the  fight  com 
menced  the  gunboat  Neosho,  that  had  been  aground  above, 
rounded  the  point  and  getting  into  position  delivered  canister 
from  her  heavy  guns  with  great  effect.  The  Lexington, 
Neosho,  No.  13,  and  Hindman  were  not  idle,  and  the  bank 
for  two  miles  up  and  down  was  swept  with  grape  and  canister. 
Before  sundown  we  had  silenced  the  enemy's  batteries,  and 
shortly  after  they  fled  from  the  field,  leaving  many  dead, 
among  them  General  Green,  who  had  his  head  blown  off, 
and  who  had  behaved  with  great  gallantry  throughout  the 
fight.  Fortunately  I  had  ordered  all  the  transports  below 
save  the  Clara  Bell,  Black  Hawk,  Emerald,  the  Vivian 
(aground  as  before  stated),  and  the  Rob  Roy.  My  loss, 
therefore,  is  incredibly  small.  Just  at  dark,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  admiral,  who  below  communicated  with  me  by 
the  dispatch-boat  Gazelle,  I  ordered  the  transports  down, 
and  as  time,  particularly  at  night,  was  precious  to  me,  and 
my  responsibilities  as  to  supplies,  ordnance,  and  ordnance 
stores  in  the  fleet  great,  I  did  not  deem  it  proper  to  gather 
up  the  wounded,  but  left  them  with  the  dead  to  the  care  of 
the  enemy,  who  I  knew  would  be  upon  the  ground  after  our 
departure.  I  kept  the  fleet  under  way  until  i  A.M.,  when, 
from  the  darkness  and  grounding  of  boats,  I  ordered  the  fleet 
tied  up. 

"  April  1 3th,  the  John  Warner  got  aground  in  the  middle 
of  the  stream  and  held  the  fleet  all  day.  About  12  M.  the 
enemy's  forces  under  Liddell,  upon  the  north  bank  of  the 
river,  planted  their  battery,  6-pounder  field-pieces,  upon  a 
height  commanding  the  fleet,  and  began  to  annoy  us.  The 
admiral  had  gone  below,  and  communicating  with  Captain 
Selfridge,  of  the  gunboat  Osage,  I  went  with  him  to  a  point 
below  the  fleet,  from  which  he  drove  the  enemy  from  posi 
tion,  as  we  supposed  ;  at  all  events,  we  silenced  their  bat 
teries.  At  this  time,  the  fleet  had  become  crowded  close 
together,  under  the  bluff  of  the  south  shore,  v/herefrom  they 
might  be  easily  fired,  and  a  vast  deal  of  loose  powder  and 
fixed  ammunition  formed  the  cargo  of  many  boats.  It  was 


IO4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  the  last  importance  to  separate  the  fleet,  therefore  I 
ordered  the  Sioux  City,  with  Colonel  Humphrey's  regiment 
on  board,  to  lead  the  way  and  the  sound  transports  to  follow 
—that  is,  those  I  did  not  need  for  tow-boats  ;  for  at  that 
time  many  of  the  fleet  were  unmanageable  from  breaking  of 
machinery.  The  Rob  Roy  was  laden  with  siege  guns  and 
ammunition,  a  most  valuable  cargo,  under  charge  of  Major 
Houston,  of  General  Banks' s  staff.  Her  rudder  being  broken 
and  the  boat  being  unmanageable,  as  represented  by  her 
officers,  I  ordered  the  Clara  Bell  a  light  side- wheel  steamer, 
without  cargo  to  take  her  in  tow.  Both  the  Sioux  City  and 
the  Clara  Bell,  as  they  passed  the  point,  were  struck,  but 
neither  damaged,  nor  were  there  any  lives  lost.  These,  I 
believe,  were  the  only  boats  fired  into.  The  Osage  went 
round  the  point,  and  the  Hindman  took  her  place.  All  that 
day  and  all  night  I  labored  to  get  the  John  Warner  off; 
lightened  her  cargo,  and  tugged  at  her  with  the  Iberuille, 
Meteor,  Rob  Roy  and  such  other  boats  as  had  power.  At 
daylight  of  the  i4th,  I  ordered  the  balance  of  the  fleet  down, 
leaving  the  John  Warner  in  charge  of  the  Hindman.  Get 
ting  the  boats  to  Campti,  and  there  meeting  General  A.  J. 
Smith,  with  a  force,  I  went  back  for  the  Warner,  and  was 
glad  to  meet  her  a  mile  or  two  from  Campti.  The  Hindman 
had  got  her  off. 

"  April  1 5th,  lay  all  day  by  the  Warner  and  Ibervillc,  that 
were  alternately  on  ground  and  swinging  at  the  bars,  and  at 
midnight  both  boats  getting  clear,  I  ran  with  them  down  to 
this  point,  and  have  to  report  that  notwithstanding  difficult 
navigation  the  transports  are  all  safe  in  port,  without  loss  of 
cargo  save  less  than  a  hundred  sacks  of  oats,  thrown  over 
board  from  the  Universe,  to  make  room  for  hard  tack  in  re 
lieving  the  Iberuille.  The  following  is  the  list  of  casualties. ' 
I  desire  to  compliment,  in  this  connection,  for  their 
steadiness  of  nerve  under  fire  and  prompt  obedience  to  all 
orders,  the  following  gentlemen,  officers  of  the  steamboat 
Hastings  ;  Capt.  W.  K.  Houston,  George  Davis,  First  Mate  ; 
Paul  Woodward,  Second  Mate  ;  and  Robert  Easley,  Pilot. 
These  deserve  special  mention,  and  their  gallantry  saved  the 

1  Nominal  list  (omitted)  reports  two  killed  and  seventeen  wounded. 


Memoir  1 05 

boats.  Col.  Moore,  Col.  Ward,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  this  command  without  any  exception,  behaved  with  the 
greatest  gallantry.  I  respectfully  ask  to  be  permitted  to  file, 
in  a  supplementary  report,  the  reports  of  those  officers  when 
they  shall  be  prepared. 

"  N.  B. — The  distance  from  Grand  Kcore  to  I^oggy  Bayou 
is  one  hundred  and  ten  miles. 

' '  I  may  also  remark  that  the  last  battery  we  encountered 
was  planted  by  Colonel  (General)  lyiddell  (said  to  command 
a  force  of  from  fifteen  hundred  to  twenty-five  hundred  men) 
on  a  bluff  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  The  fleet  was 
huddled  together.  I  had  reason  to  expect  an  attack  from 
the  south  side.  Intervening  between  that  part  of  the  river 
and  the  bluff  was  White  I^ake.  Had  I  debarked  the  whole  or 
any  portion  of  my  command  to  dislodge  the  battery  I  should 
not  only  have  left  the  boats  unguarded  but  should  have  been 
compelled  to  march  six  miles  around  the  borders  of  this 
lake.  I  took  all  the  circumstances  under  full  consideration 
and  determined  to  remain  with  the  fleet.  From  information 
received  since,  and  from  the  general  results,  I  feel  confident 
my  course  was  the  correct  one. 

' '  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant, 

"  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH, 
"  Brigadier- General,  Commanding. 
"  Captain  HOUGH, 

"  Assistant  Adjutant- General." 

As  the  reports  show,  the  position  from  which  the  admiral 
and  General  Kilby  Smith  finally  extricated  themselves,  was 
one  of  the  greatest  peril.  Lossing,  in  his  history,  after 
stating  that  a  council  of  chief  officers  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps,  "  upon  the  urgent  recommendation  of  them  all,  and 
with  the  acquiescence  of  General  Smith  .  .  .  determined 
to  retire  from  Grand  Kcore  the  following  day,  *  to  the  great 
disappointment  of  the  troops,'  Banks  said,  '  who,  flushed 
with  success,  were  eager  for  another  fight,'  "  says  : 

' '  In  the  meantime,  the  command  of  T.  Kilby  Smith  and 
the  transports  had  reached  Springfield  Landing  at  Loggy 


io6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Bayou,  where  the  river  was  obstructed  by  a  sunken  steam 
boat.  Farther  advance  was  not  required,  for  word  soon 
came  of  the  disaster  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  followed  by  an 
order  from  Pleasant  Hill  for  the  troops  and  flotilla  to  fall 
back  to  Grand  Bcore  as  quickly  as  possible.  Obedience  was 
a  difficult  task,  for  the  troops  so  sorely  smitten  by  Banks, 
were  turning  their  attention  to  the  capture  or  destruction  of 
the  vessels  and  troops  above  Grand  Bcore.  The  banks  of 
the  river  at  the  turns  were  now  swarming  with  sharpshooters, 
the  water  was  very  low,  and  continually  falling,  and  great 
labor  was  necessary  in  getting  the  vessels  over  the  numerous 
bars  and  shoals." 

He  then  describes  the  attack  made  at  Coushatta,  and  gives 
full  credit  to  General  Smith's  command,  and  comments  in  a 
note  : 

"  In  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  the  i4th 
April,  Admiral  Porter  claimed  the  entire  credit  of  the  repulse 
of  the  Confederates  for  himself  and  his  command,  and  did 
not  even  mention  the  presence  of  Gen.  T.  Kilby  Smith  and 
his  troops. ' ' 

The  Admiral  based  his  report  perhaps  on  that  of  L,ieut.- 
Comdr.  Thomas  O.  Selfridge,  who  gives  but  scant  credit  to 
the  part  taken  by  the  soldiers  in  the  battle  with  Green,  for 
he  writes  to  the  Admiral  as  follows  : 

"  UNITED  STATES  STEAMER  OSAGE, 

"GRAND  BCORE,  April  16,  1864. 
"SIR  : 

' '  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  that  while  on  my  way 
down  the  river,  having  stopped  at  Blair's  Plantation,  some 
fifty  miles  above  this  point,  after  protecting  the  transport 
Alice  Vivian^  I  was  attacked  by  two  brigades  of  dismounted 
cavalry  and  three  pieces  of  artillery,  the  whole  under  the 
command  of  General  Green,  amounting  to  not  less  than 
twenty-five  hundred  men.  I  waited  until  they  got  within 
easy  shelling  range  and  opened  upon  them  a  heavy  fire  of 
shrapnel  and  canister.  The  rebels  fought  with  unusual  per 
tinacity  and  for  over  an  hour  delivered  the  heaviest  fire  of 

1  L,ossing,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  262,  263. 


Memoir  107 

musketry  that  I  ever  witnessed.  They  finally  broke  in  great 
confusion,  leaving  the  ground  covered  with  the  dead  and 
wounded,  muskets,  haversacks,  etc.,  for  many  yards  from 
the  bank.  Having  received  orders  to  join  you  without  de 
lay,  I  regret  that  I  could  not  give  the  battlefield  the  inspec 
tion  that  I  desired. 

"  From  the  statement  of  the  wounded,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  field,  the  loss  of  the  enemy  could  not  have  been  less 
than  two  hundred.  General  Green,  who  commanded,  a 
colonel  and  a  major,  are  known  to  have  been  killed.  The 
Lexington  (Commander  Bache)  came  down  shortly  after  the 
action  commenced,  and  from  his  position  below  was  able  to 
pour  in  a  most  destructive  enfilading  fire  that  materially 
hastened  the  result.  Company  "  A,"  95th  Illinois,  were  on 
board,  and  did  good  execution.  General  Green  will  prove  a 
great  loss,  he  standing  as  one  of  the  best  generals  this  side 
of  the  Mississippi  River. 

' '  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"THOMAS  O.  SELFRIDGE, 

"  Lieutenant-Commander."1 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  inaccuracies  or  mistakes 
in  the  claims  of  the  participants  in  these  conflicts,  Admiral 
Porter's  own  estimate  of  General  Smith's  services  at  that 
time  he  has  placed  in  imperishable  record.  He  wrote  thus  : 

"  MISSISSIPPI  SQUADRON,  FLAG-SHIP  CRICKET, 

"  OFF  ALEXANDRIA,  LOUISIANA,  May  4,  1864. 
"  Brig. -Gen.  A.  J.  SMITH, 

"  Comdg.  Div's  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Army  Corps, 

"  Alexandria,  La. 
"  GENERAL  : 

"  I  have  been  so  engaged  since  my  return  to  this  place 
that  I  have  not  had  the  time  to  express  to  you  the  high  ap 
preciation  I  have  of  the  services  of  that  excellent  and  gallant 
officer,  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  who  with  a  detach 
ment  of  two  thousand  men,  accompanied  the  transports  in 
the  expedition  to  Springfield  Landing. 

"  In  that  expedition   we  accomplished,   under  the  most 
1  Report  of  Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  vol.  ii.,  p.  253. 


io8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

difficult  circumstances,  all  that  was  required  of  us,  and, 
with  a  persevering  enemy  opposing  us  at  almost  every  bend 
of  the  river,  returned  to  Grand  Kcore,  very  much  against 
our  will,  without  the  loss  of  a  particle  of  the  material  of  war 
with  which  we  started. 

' '  I  cannot  speak  in  too  high  praise  of  the  manner  in  which 
General  Smith  managed  his  part  of  the  expedition,  doing 
everything  in  his  power  to  make  it  successful,  and  co 
operating  in  a  way  to  give  me  the  most  entire  satisfaction. 
It  reminded  me  of  the  olden  time,  when  the  gallant  soldiers 
of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  guarded  by  the  gun 
boats,  were  pushing  their  way  victoriously  up  the  ever-to-be- 
remembered  Arkansas  River.  We  did  not  return  this  time 
with  the  same  success,  yet  we  went  through  scenes  that 
tried  men's  mettle  ;  and  the  association  of  those  exciting 
days  will,  no  doubt,  long  be  remembered  by  both  of  us. 
Nearly  one  hundred  miles  in  the  rear  of  our  army,  where  we 
heard  of  its  retreat  back  to  Grand  Kcore,  and  with  a  success 
ful  and  indomitable  foe  ready  to  harass  us  at  every  step, 
everything  was  conducted  as  quietly  as  if  we  were  still  on 
our  way  to  meet  the  enemy.  We  never  realized,  until  we 
returned  to  Grand  Kcore,  that  our  army  had  returned  dis 
comfited  to  that  place. 

' '  We  reached  Springfield  Landing,  the  place  appointed  to 
communicate  with  our  forces  under  General  Banks.  The 
troops  were  all  landed,  and  in  another  hour  would  have  been 
on  the  march  to  Springfield,  hoping  to  greet  our  friends  as 
conquerors.  Our  disappointment  was  great  when  informed 
by  a  courier  that  our  army  had  returned  to  Grand  Kcore, 
and  that  all  our  perseverance  and  energy  had  been  thrown 
away. 

"  The  fire  of  the  enemy  was  exceedingly  annoying  on  our 
return,  but  the  soldiers  treated  it  with  indifference,  exposing 
themselves  on  all  occasions,  and  returning  the  fire  with  in 
terest  when  fired  into  by  the  rebels.  On  the  afternoon  of 
the  1 2th  of  April,  we  were  attacked,  at  a  bad  bend  in  the 
river,  by  a  force  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  with 
two  field-pieces,  under  the  rebel  General  Green  backed  by 
a  large  force  of  five  thousand,  with  three  field-pieces.  The 


Memoir  109 

enemy  attacked  the  rear  of  the  transports,  where  there  were 
two  gunboats,  one  or  two  transports,  and  the  Hastings,  with 
General  Smith  on  board,  bringing  up  the  rear.  The  enemy 
came  in  certain  of  victory  ;  but  the  gunboats  and  the  Hast 
ings,  the  Rob  Roy,  and  one  other,  opened  on  them  vigorously, 
and  after  an  hour  and  a  half  of  hard  fighting,  in  which  the 
fragile  transports  were  much  cut  up,  the  enemy  retreated  in 
confusion,  with  the  loss  of  their  best  general  (Green),  about 
twenty  officers,  and  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  men.  In 
this  action  General  Smith  bore  a  conspicuous  part,  and,  by 
his  annoyance  of  the  enemy,  helped  much  to  secure  a  victory, 
so  important  to  us  from  the  death  of  the  rebel  General  Green, 
their  most  popular  leader.  From  that  time  we  were  not  so 
much  molested,  the  five  thousand  men  in  reserve  concluding 
it  was  best  to  let  us  alone. 

' '  At  Catnpti  some  of  the  boats  got  aground,  and,  antici 
pating  further  annoyance,  I  pushed  on,  and,  as  you  know, 
requested  you  to  send  help  to  our  exposed  soldiers,  which 
you  promptly  did.  I  regret  that  the  help  did  not  arrive 
quite  in  time  to  save  a  few  lives,  the  enemy  opening  their 
batteries  on  the  boats  shortly  after  I  left,  which  attack,  I  am 
informed,  was  coolly  met,  and  the  rebels  driven  away. 

' '  I  hope  it  may  be  my  good  fortune  to  be  associated  with 
General  Smith  on  some  occasion  where  our  exertions  will 
meet  with  a  better  reward.  Though  we  cannot  lay  claim  to 
any  great  success,  we  can  safely  say  we  accomplished  all  that 
was  required  of  us. 

' '  I  hope  you  will  commend  this  gallant  officer  to  General 
Sherman,  who  delights  to  know  those  under  his  command 
who  do  their  duty  faithfully  and  gallantly. 

"  With  much  respect,  General,  I  remain  very  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant,  DAVID  D.  PORTER, 

"  Rear- Admiral."  ' 

When  the  fleet  and  army  were  re-united  at  Grand  Kcore, 
further  consultation  was  held  as  to  the  best  course  to  adopt, 
and  it  was  concluded  wisest  to  continue  the  retreat.  But  this 
was  more  easily  said  than  done.  The  heavy  vessels  of  the 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  iii.,  p.  432. 


1 10  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

navy  found  it  most  difficult  to  go  over  the  sand-bars  and  shoal 
places,  and  to  add  to  the  embarrassment,  one  of  the  finest 
and  largest  iron-clads,  the  Eastport,  being  injured  by  the  ex 
plosion  of  a  torpedo,  sunk  in  the  stream.  Porter,  who  had 
proceeded  down  the  river  leaving  the  fleet  in  command  of 
Captain  Selfridge,  returned  with  pump  boats  and  made  every 
effort  to  save  this  vessel,  but  finally  it  was  discovered  these 
efforts  must  be  in  vain,  and  she  was  blown  up.  On  the  2ist 
of  April,  the  army  was  in  full  retreat  toward  Alexandria  with 
the  enemy  harassing  them  whenever  opportunity  offered. 
The  rear  was  brought  up  by  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  column  cov 
ered  by  the  command  of  Gen.  Kilby  Smith,  who  repulsed 
the  enemy  at  Cloutierville.  The  whole  retreat  was  a  series 
of  skirmishes  and  brisk  engagements,  but  finally  the  army 
reached  Alexandria  without  serious  mishap. 

Porter  was  very  apprehensive  that  he  would  be  deserted 
by  the  army,  and  left  to  shift  for  himself  at  Grand  Ecore, 
and  in  point  of  fact  he  had  difficulty  and  some  severe  fight 
ing  during  which  he  behaved  with  the  greatest  gallantry  in 
making  his  way  to  Alexandria.  During  the  retreat  his  as 
sociate  in  the  previous  adventures  wrote  him  as  follows  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  SEVENTEENTH  A.  C., 

"  COTIU<E,  April  25,  1864. 

"  ADMIRAL  : 

"  Arrived  at  this  point  last  night.  General  Banks  and 
army  are  on  the  march  to  Alexandria.  We  brought  up  the 
rear  and  skirmished  all  the  way.  General  Banks  fought  at 
the  crossing  of  Cane  River.  Not  much  loss  on  either  side. 
Our  fight  in  the  rear  was  sharp.  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  com 
mand  is  ordered  peremptorily  to  Alexandria.  Troops  are 
now  on  the  march.  You  will  find  the  camp  some  two  thou 
sand  strong  on  the  opposite  side.  Their  artillery  does  not 
amount  to  much.  What  they  have  we  have  crippled  badly. 
Will  communicate  more  fully  from  Alexandria  by  the  gun 
boats  Osage  and  Pittsburgh,  unless  they  get  off  before  we 
arrive.  General  Smith  and  I  both  protest  at  being  hurried 
away.  We  feel  as  if  we  were  shamefully  deserting  you.  If 
I  had  the  power  I  would  march  my  troops  back  to  Calhoun, 


Memoir  1 1 1 

or  wherever  you  might  need  us,  if  at  all.     I  will  try  to  get  a 
communication  to  you  from  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith. 
' '  Most  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

' '  THOMAS  KII^BY  SMITH, 

"  Brig.  -Gen.  Comdg.1 
"  Rear- Admiral  PORTER, 

' '  Comdg.  Mississippi  Squadron. ' ' 

The  Admiral  says  in  his  testimony  before  the  Committee 
on  the  conduct  of  the  war  : 

' '  When  I  got  to  Alexandria  I  found  the  army  in  a  great 
state  of  stampede.  I  did  not  see  anything  to  be  frightened 
at,  but  the  army  was  going  to  clear  out  at  once  and  go  down 
the  river.  I  told  General  Banks  that  that  was  out  of  the 
question,  that  we  must  do  something  to  get  the  fleet  down."  2 

The  situation,  indeed,  was  a  painful  one.  An  immensely 
valuable  fleet  was  above  the  Red  River  rapids  penned  up, 
and  without  any  possibility  of  making  their  way  down  under 
existing  conditions.  To  protect  them  there  would  require 
the  army  to  remain  stationary  in  a  state  of  siege  for  an  in 
definite  time,  perhaps  a  year,  and  to  destroy  them  would  be 
to  inflict  a  blow  upon  the  Union  cause  in  the  southwest 
heavier  than  any  it  had  yet  received.  In  this  predicament 
the  genius  and  engineering  skill  of  a  western  officer,  L,ieut.- 
Col.  Joseph  Bailey  of  the  4th  Wisconsin  Regiment,  who  had 
had  a  successful  experience  in  the  neighborhood  of  Port 
Hudson  in  floating  certain  vessels  that  had  grounded  in  one 
of  the  bayous  by  building  a  dam,  suggested  the  expedient 
of  damming  the  waters  of  the  Red  River.  His  expedient 
was  immediately  taken  up  by  the  army  and  the  navy.  Coal 
barges  were  sunk  in  the  river  and  cribs  filled  with  brick  and 
ironwork  (secured  from  the  sugar  mills)  were  built  out  to 
meet  the  barges.  On  the  8th  of  May,  the  work  having  been 
begun  upon  the  ist,  the  dam  was  so  far  completed  that  the 
water  had  risen  seven  feet  on  the  rapids  and  the  gunboats 
Osage,  Fort  Hindman  and  Neosho,  with  two  other  vessels, 
passed  down.  Before  the  others  could  get  under  way  the 

1  Report  of  Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  vol.  ii.,  p.  254. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  279. 


1 1 2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

dam  broke,  but  notwithstanding  this  discouragement,  the 
work  was  repaired  and  strengthened  and  on  the  i2th,  the 
vessels  having  been  lightened,  passed  the  obstacle  in  safety, 
and  the  fleet  was  saved  to  the  Union.  The  army  and  navy, 
thus  released  from  confinement,  made  their  way  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to  Simmsport,  fighting  the  Confederates  from 
time  to  time  and  always  successfully.  On  the  2oth  of  May, 
the  expedition  ended,  the  army  crossed  the  Atchafalaya,  and 
Banks  handed  over  the  command  he  had  so  unsuccessfully 
managed  to  the  more  competent  hands  of  Gen.  Kdwrard  R. 
S.  Canby,  who  had  been  appointed  his  successor.  Porter 
passed  down  the  Red  River  nearly  parallel  with  the  march 
of  the  army  and  reached  the  Mississippi.  While  these  events 
were  occurring  to  Banks,  Steele,  who  had  started  south 
ward  from  Little  Rock  on  the  23d  of  March,  had  pushed  his 
way  as  far  as  Camden,  about  half  way  between  Little  Rock 
and  Shreveport.  When  he  had  heard  of  the  news  of  the 
disaster  to  the  Union  troops  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  he 
found  his  position  dangerous,  more  especially  as  the  Con 
federate  commander  Kirby  Smith  had  concentrated  almost 
all  his  forces  in  the  effort  to  crush  him,  and  he  therefore 
made  a  hasty  retreat  towards  Little  Rock,  which  he  reached 
after  fighting  a  severe  battle  at  Jenkinson's  Ferry,  his  troops 
exhausted  by  their  experience. 

It  will  be  noticed  from  the  narrative  of  the  Red  River  ex 
pedition,  that  neither  by  Admiral  Porter,  whose  patience  had 
been  sorely  tried,  nor  by  General  Banks,  with  whom  the 
soldiers  of  Sherman  had  never  before  served,  is  there  any 
adverse  criticism  made  of  the  conduct  of  A.  J.  Smith's  com 
mand  in  any  part  of  the  operations.  General  Banks,  in  his 
report,  gives  General  Kilby  Smith  full  credit  for  his  manage 
ment  of  his  duties  while  protecting  the  fleet  in  his  ascent  to 
Loggy  Bayou,  and  its  subsequent  withdrawal  to  Grand 
Kcore,  saying  : 

"  General  Smith,  who  commanded  the  land  forces  and 
transports,  is  entitled  to  the  highest  commendation  for  the 
energy,  skill,  and  success  with  which  he  managed  this  most 
difficult  affair."  ' 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  p.  205. 


Memoir  1 1 3 

Admiral  Porter  criticised  Banks  with  great  severity  in  his 
communications  with  the  naval  department,  and  it  seems 
but  fair  that  Banks' s  explanations  and  counter  criticisms 
should  be  considered.  He  remarks  on  Porter's  statement 
that ' '  the  retreat  to  Grand  Kcore  left  me  almost  at  the  mercy 
of  the  enemy." 

"  The  Admiral's  despatch  does  not  mention  the  fact  that 
in  addition  to  the  '  mercy  '  of  the  enemy,  he  had  the  support 
of  General  T.  Kilby  Smith's  division  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men,  whose  most  gallant  and  honorable  part  in  the 
preservation  of  the  fleet  of  gunboats  and  transports  is  not 
referred  to  in  what  the  admiral  calls  '  this  curious  affair 
between  the  (enemy's)  infantry  and  gunboats,'  referring  to 
General  Green's  attack  at  Coushatta,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  Blair's  Landing." 

General  Banks  avails  himself,  and  quite  naturally,  of 
every  explanation  or  extenuation  for  his  failure.  In  his  re 
port  he  says  : 

"  The  column  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  was  a  partially  inde 
pendent  command.  General  Sherman,  in  his  despatch  of 
the  zoth  of  April,  received  the  i6th,  informed  me  that  the 
thirty  days  for  which  he  had  loaned  me  General  Smith's  com 
mand  would  expire  on  the  loth  of  April,  the  day  after  the 
battle  of  Pleasant  Hill.  General  Smith's  instructions, 
which  he  showed  me,  required  him  to  confer  constantly 
with  Admiral  Porter,  the  approved  friend  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee.  .  .  .  He  made  no  official  reports  of  his 
forces  or  their  operations.  He  was  in  no  wise  responsible 
for  the  results  of  the  expedition,  and  may  perhaps  be  said  to 
have  gained  as  much  by  its  failure  as  he  would  by  its  suc 
cess.  When  his  thirty  days  were  up  he  claimed  the  right  at 
Grand  Ecore  to  return  to  Vicksburg,  irrespective  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  army  or  the  fleet,  and  did  not  consider  himself 
at  all  responsible  for  the  inevitable  consequences  of  his  with 
drawal  to  the  army  or  the  navy,  nor  for  that  detention  which 
their  preservation  demanded.  That  responsibility  I  was 
called  upon  to  assume  in  written  orders.  I  entertain  no 
doubt  that  his  official  course  was  entirely  consistent  with  his 
orders,  and  I  cheerfully  acknowledge  the  generous  and 


1 1 4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

earnest  efforts  of  General  Mower  of  the  Sixteenth,  and  Gen 
eral  T.  Kilby  Smith,  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  to  infuse  into 
the  different  corps  that  unity  of  spirit  which  is  as  essential 
to  victory  as  the  valor  of  the  soldiers  in  actual  battle.  I 
gladly  accord  to  the  men  of  their  commands  the  honor  of 
having  fought  a  desperate  enemy  superior  in  numbers,  with 
as  much  gallantry  and  success  as  that  which  distinguished 
the  troops  of  my  immediate  command.  No  higher  praise 
than  this  can  be  given  to  any  soldiers.  Alexander's  troops 
never  fought  better. ' '  '  The  general  then  lays  upon  Frank 
lin  the  responsibility  for  the  movement  on  the  advance  of  the 
army  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  and  states  that  the  navy  de 
layed  the  advance  of  the  army  at  Alexandria  sixteen  days 
and  at  Grand  Ecore  three  days,  and  had  detained  the  army 
ten  days  at  Grand  Ecore  and  eighteen  days  at  Alexandria 
on  its  return.  In  closing  his  report,  he  says  : 

'  We  owe  nothing  to  the  enemy,  not  even  our  defeat. 
Could  any  one  of  these  difficulties  have  been  avoided,  the 
object  of  the  campaign  would  have  been  accomplished.  But 
the  occupation  of  Shreveport  could  not  have  been  main 
tained.  The  presence  of  the  enemy  would  have  required 
such  a  force  for  its  defence  as  could  not  have  been  supplied 
by  the  river,  and  for  which  no  other  arrangement  had  been 
made,  as  suggested  in  my  despatch  of  the  3oth  of  March. 
The  only  possible  method  of  maintaining  this  position  would 
have  been  to  concentrate  at  this  point  a  force  superior  in 
numbers  to  the  enemy,  with  sufficient  time  to  pursue  him 
wherever  he  should  move,  even  if  he  took  us  to  Galveston, 
on  the  Gulf  coast.  This  was  suggested  as  a  possible  result 
of  the  campaign,  but  it  was  not  embraced  in  the  original 
plan,  and  was  specially  precluded  by  orders  received  from 
the  lieutenant-general  commanding  the  armies."  2 

Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  report  is  of  course  of  interest,  and 
throws  some  strong  light  upon  these  events.  After  describ 
ing  the  battle  at  Pleasant  Hill,  and  the  successful  result  of 
his  operations,  he  says  : 

'  The  opinion  of  Major-General  Banks  as  to  the  action 
of  the  command  and  its  results  may  be  gathered  from  his 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  p.  217.  2  Ibid.,  p.  218. 


Memoir 


\  > 


own  words  to  me  on  the  field  just  after  the  final  charge. 
When  riding  up  to  me  he  remarked,  shaking  me  by  the 
hand,  '  God  bless  you,  general,  you  have  saved  the  army.'  " 

He  goes  on  to  say, 

"  About  12  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  9th  I  received 
orders  from  General  Banks  to  have  my  command  in  readi 
ness  to  move  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  that  hour 
to  withdraw  them  silently  from  the  field  and  follow  the 
Nineteenth  Corps  back  to  Grand  Kcore,  make  such  disposi 
tion  of  my  troops  and  trains  as  would  enable  me  to  repel  an 
attack  on  the  rear  of  the  column.  I  represented  to  him  that 
the  dead  of  my  command  were  not  buried,  and  that  I  had 
not  the  means  of  transporting  my  wounded ;  that  many  of  the 
wounded  had  not  yet  been  gathered  in  from  the  field  and 
asked  of.  him  permission  to  remain  until  noon  of  the  next 
day  to  give  me  an  opportunity  to  bury  my  dead  and  leave 
the  wounded  as  well  provided  for  as  the  circumstances 
would  permit.  I  also  urged  the  fact  that  Gen.  Thomas 
Kilby  Smith's  command,  then  thirty  miles  above  on  trans 
ports  in  the  river,  would  undoubtedly  be  captured  and  the 
transports  lost  if  left  to  themselves.  The  permission  to  re 
main  was,  however,  refused  and  the  order  to  move  made 
peremptory.  I  therefore  provided  as  well  as  possible  for  the 
wounded,  left  medical  officers  to  attend  to  them,  and  moved 
at  the  designated  hour  following  the  Nineteenth  Corps.  We 
reached  Grand  Bcore  on  the  evening  of  the  nth,  no  attack 
on  the  rear  having  been  made  by  the  enemy,  and  went  into 
camp.  On  the  evening  of  the  i3th,  nothing  having  been 
heard  from  a  portion  of  our  transports,  save  that  they  had 
been  attacked  by  infantry  and  artillery  upon  both  sides  of 
the  river,  I  marched  up  with  two  brigades  of  my  command 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  to  help  them  through  if  pos 
sible,  crossing  the  river  at  Grand  Ecore  about  4  P.M.  We 
reached  Campti,  twelve  miles  above,  the  same  night  and  met 
a  portion  of  the  fleet  there,  they  having  by  energy,  good 
judgment,  and  rare  good  fortune,  succeeded  in  running  the 
batteries  and  land  forces  of  the  enemy  without  the  loss  of  a 
boat,  though  some  were  completely  riddled  with  shot. ' ' 
1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  pp.  309,  310. 


1 1 6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Describing  the  retreat  from  Grand  Ecore  to  Alexandria, 
General  Smith  says  : 

';  From  the  day  of  our  leaving  Natchitoches,  the  enemy 
pushed  the  pursuit  vigorously,  the  rear  was  skirmishing 
every  day  and  nearly  all  night.  Twice  during  the  march  we 
were  obliged  to  form  line  and  teach  them  a  lesson.  At 
Cloutierville,  on  the  23d,  they  charged  the  rear  division 
(Gen.  T.  Kilby  Smith's),  but  he  repulsed  them  neatly  and 
thoroughly  after  about  an  hour's  fighting." 

In  closing  his  report,  he  says  : 

"  I  crossed  the  bridge  on  the  2oth  (May),  bringing  up 
the  rear,  and  marched  to  Red  River  Landing  on  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  whither  our  boats  had  been  sent,  and  reported 
by  order  of  Major-General  Banks  to  Major-Gen.  B.  R.  S. 
Canby,  for  further  orders,  and  was  by  him  directed  to  pro 
ceed  to  Vicksburg  with  my  command,  which  I  did,  reaching 
that  place  on  the  23d  of  May,  having  been  gone  seventy -four 
da}^s.  The  results  of  the  expedition  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows  :  I  captured  with  my  command  22  pieces  of  artillery, 
1757  prisoners  and  Fort  De  Russy,  with  a  strong  casemated 
battery,  which  the  gunboats  would  not  have  been  able  to 
pass.  My  loss  was  153  killed,  849  wounded,  and  133  miss 
ing,  total  1135  ;  also  one  six-mule  wagon.  My  entire  com 
mand  numbered  originally  9200.  Of  the  general  officers 
attached  to  my  command  I  cannot  speak  too  highly.  Brig.- 
Gen.  (now  Major- General)  J.  A.  Mower,  by  his  perception 
and  prompt  action  at  Fort  De  Russy,  Henderson's  Hill  and 
Pleasant  Hill,  and  by  his  gallantry  and  skill  at  Yellow  Bayou 
near  Simmport,  May  i8th,  has  won  the  right  to  high  estimate 
and  position  in  the  annals  of  the  war.  Quick  perception, 
ready  courage  and  abundant  vitality,  added  to  skill  and 
education,  give  him  the  power  to  sway  men  as  if  by  mag 
netism.  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  with  excellent 
judgment  and  skill,  brought  the  boats  safely  through  the 
intricacies  and  shoals  of  Red  River  back  to  Grand  Ecore, 
although  continually  under  fire.  His  repulse  of  the  cavalry 
charge  upon  his  division  at  Cloutierville,  was  well  and 


Memoir  1 1  7 

neatly  done.  I  commend  him  as  a  gallant  officer  and  gen 
tleman." 

In  Confederate  General  Richard  Taylor's  report,  referring 
to  the  battle  in  which  General  Green  was  killed,  he  says  : 

"  Several  times  the  transports  raised  the  white  flag,  but 
the  gunboats,  protected  by  their  plating,  kept  up  their  fire 
and  compelled  our  troops  to  renew  the  punishment  on  the 
transports.  Many  times  our  sharpshooters  compelled  the 
gunboats  to  close  their  portholes,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
result  would  have  been  the  capture  of  the  whole  fleet  but  for 
the  unfortunate  fall  of  the  noble  Green,  killed  by  a  discharge 
of  grape  from  one  of  the  gunboats.  Notwithstanding  that 
this  action  took  place  within  sound  of  Banks' s  army,  now 
concentrated  at  Grand  Bcore,  such  was  the  demoralization 
resulting  from  the  defeats  of  the  8th  and  Qth,  that  not  even 
a  demonstration  was  made  to  assist  the  fleet. ' '  a 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  pp.  309,  etc. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  571  : 

"SOUTH  BANK  OF  BAYOU  PIERRE, 

"  NEAR  RED  RIVER  (LOUISIANA),  April  19,  1864. 

"  Leaving  the  division  (cavalry)  on  the  Grand  Ecore  road,  in  tem 
porary  command  of  Colonel ,  Gen.  James  P.  Major  and  the  writer 

rode  down  to  Jordan's  Ferry  on  this  bayou,  where  General  Green  was 
crossing  Parson's  brigade  of  cavalry,  to  strike  Red  River  at  Blair's 
Landing,  four  miles  distant,  with  a  view  of  cutting  off  what  gunboats 
and  transports  might  still  be  above  that  point.  The  troops  were  still 
crossing  (the  horses  having  been  left  with  the  wagon  train  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  bayou)  when  we  sat  down  to  his  last  dinner  with 
that  glorious  old  soldier  Tom  Green  ;  he  had  talked  freely  about  the 
danger  of  this  attack  ;  but  felt  the  necessity  of  constant  action,  and 
knew  that  Gen.  Dick  Taylor  was  expecting  great  things  of  him,  and 
it  behoved  him  to  strike  the  enemy  at  every  point.  He  was  more 
serious  than  usual,  and  his  conversation  was  very  earnest ;  he  longed 
for  his  old  brigade  (of  Texans),  and  said  he  would  have  no  doubt  of 
the  result  if  he  was  leading  them  to  battle. 

"About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Parson's  brigade  and  a  sec 
tion  of  West's  battery  opened  fire  on  an  ironclad  and  the  (gunboat) 
Black  Hawk.  At  first  the  fire  from  these  boats  was  very  severe  ;  but 


1 1 8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

On  what  General  Taylor  bases  his  statement  about  the 
white  flag,  does  not  appear.  Evidently  it  was  erroneous 
from  the  contemporaneous  reports  of  those  who  participated 


when  our  rifles  got  closer  and  poured  shot  into  the  portholes  when 
ever  opened,  the  fire  slackened,  and  we  were  evidently  gaining 
ground,  when  an  ironclad  from  below  turned  the  point  and  gave  us  a 
broadside.  We  were  but  a  short  time  exposed  to  this  enfilading  fire, 
when  another  grim  monster  came  in  sight,  and  threw  a  shower  of 
grape  or  canister  in  the  field  through  which  we  were  still  advancing. 

"  The  men  were  ordered  to  lie  down,  but  even  this  could  not  save 
them ;  there  was  (now)  evidently  more  security  to  us  in  (greater) 
proximity,  and  General  Green  ordered  a  double-quick  forward  ;  gal 
loped  to  the  front,  riding  a  beautiful  iron  gray  colt  recently  presented 
to  him,  and  dismounted  ;  and  when  within  a  few  feet  of  the  river 
bank,  near  the  Eastport,  was  struck  by  pieces  of  grape  shot  or  shell 
in  the  forehead  and  fell  dead.  The  fire  from  the  boats  increased,  and 
there  was  no  longer  hope  for  success.  Green's  death  was  soon  known 
throughout  the  command,  and  began  to  tell  upon  the  spirits  of  the 
men,  and  General  Major  assumed  command  and  retired  late  in  the 
afternoon  with  the  dead  and  wounded. 

' '  There  is  gloom  over  the  camp  to-night  which  the  memory  of 
bright  victories  cannot  dispel ;  and  his  staff  gather  around  their  chief, 
as  he  lies  stretched  in  death,  with  the  light  gone  from  his  bright  eye, 
the  red  finger  of  death  upon  his  brow,  and  his  ringing  voice  hushed 
forever. 

"An  admirer  and  warm  friend  of  General  Major,  General  Green 
had  invited  General  Major  to  accompany  him  on  the  field  to-day  ;  and 
said  to  him,  as  if  with  prophetic  vision  he  read  the  future  :  '  Here  in 
the  valley  of  Red  River  you  will  have  the  best  chance  to  win  pro 
motion  '  ;  thinking,  perhaps,  '  if  I  fall,  you  can  succeed  me.' 

"They  know  little  of  the  man  who  thought  him  a  bold,  blundering 
fighter,  whose  rashness  was  only  equalled  by  his  luck.  He  was  cool, 
calm  and  calculating  in  deliberation,  impetuous  and  irrisistible  in 
action.  Brave  and  active  himself,  he  despised  the  timid  and  idle. 
Indifferent  to  appearances,  he  was  simple  in  his  dress  ;  but  he  carried 
a  warm  heart  under  his  rough  coat,  and  always  had  a  hearty  and 
honest  welcome  for  his  friends.  Of  fine  talents,  excellent  education 
and  pleasant  address,  he  was  always  interesting,  and  would  have  made 
his  mark  in  any  profession.  A  good  man,  warm  friend,  and  true  sol 
dier  was  Tom.  Green.  May  his  soul  rest  in  peace."  J 

1  Excerpt  from  diary  of  Alexander  Porter  Morse,  Captain  and  Ass't  Inspector 
General  Major's  Division  of  Green's  (Texas)  Cavalry  Corps,  army  of  Trans-Missis 
sippi,  C.  S.  A. 


Memoir  1 1 9 

on  the  Union  side.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  of  Gen.  Kilby 
Smith 's  soldiers  would  have  surrendered  in  view  of  the 
punishment  they  were  inflicting  upon  the  enemy,  and  the 
insignificant  loss  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  return. 

From  a  private  letter  from  Admiral  Porter  to  General 
Sherman,  dated  April  16,  1864,  some  extracts  will  be  of  in 
terest.  In  speaking  of  the  fleet  and  its  movements  on  the 
Red  River,  after  the  army  had  marched  to  its  defeat  at 
Sabine  Cross  Roads,  he  remarks  : 

"  I  was  much  annoyed  when  I  found  that  General  Banks' s 
quartermasters  had  added  to  the  convoy  ten  large  steamers 
which  I  had  expressly  stipulated  with  Gen.  Kilby  Smith 
were  not  to  come  up  the  river.  We  were  detained  six 
hours  lightening  one  of  them  loaded  with  ammunition  and 
the  others  were  constantly  getting  into  trouble.  Gen.  Kilby 
Smith  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  this  outrageous  pro 
ceeding,  for  it  was  done  after  we  departed  from  Grand  Hcore, 
and  that  officer  left  nothing  undone  to  co-operate  with  me 
and  carry  the  expedition  through  successfully.  On  all  occa 
sions  I  found  General  Smith  ready  and  willing  to  co-operate 
in  the  same  harmonious  manner  that  has  always  existed  be 
tween  the  navy  and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  I  am  sure 
nothing  will  occur  to  interrupt  that  good  feeling. ' '  1 

Speaking  at  this  time  of  the  attack  by  General  Green,  he 
says  : 

' '  It  turned  out  to  be  what  I  had  been  expecting — an  at 
tack  with  artillery  and  infantry  two  thousand  strong  in  our 
rear.  Gen.  Kilby  Smith  and  two  transports  being  divided 
from  the  main  body  by  the  artillery,  which  it  was  not  proper 
to  pass  until  silenced  by  the  gunboats.  This  body  of  men 
was  commanded  b}^  General  Green,  the  best  man  they  have, 
and  one  in  whom  the  rebels  place  more  confidence  than  in 
any  one  else.  He  led  his  men  to  the  very  edge  of  the  bank, 
they  shouting  and  yelling  like  madmen.  They  were  hand- 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  series  i.,  part  iii.,  p.  173. 


1 20  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

somely  received  by  the  Osage  and  Lexington  in  the  old  style, 
and  General  Smith  in  the  Hastings,  with  part  of  his  men, 
poured  in  his  fire,  and  amongst  us  the  rebels  were  cut  into 
mincemeat.  General  Green  and  Colonel  Chisum  had  their 
heads  blown  off  with  an  n-inch  shell.  The  ground  was 
covered  with  killed  and  wounded,  and  without  great  loss  to 
ourselves.  ...  It  was  a  most  exciting  and  interesting 
week,  much  danger  of  being  cut  off  unless  aided  by  General 
Banks,  which  aid  was  not  sent  until  I  asked  for  it  in  person. 
.  .  .  Finally,  all  came  in  safely,  not  losing  a  rope  yarn. 
Your  men  behaved  splendidly  and  coolly,  and  Gen.  Kilby 
Smith  like  a  brave  and  gallant  officer.  I  shall  always  feel 
proud  to  be  associated  with  him,  and  we  will  both  likely  re 
member  for  many  a  day  the  perilous  scenes  we  have  gone 
through  together."  * 

Replying  to  Porter's  letters,  Sherman  writes  from  Nash 
ville,  April  24th  : 

"  .  .  .  Indeed  I  do  think  all  our  calculations  were  well 
made  and  the  combined  forces  were  ample  to  walk  over  all 
opposition.  .  .  .  I  think  I  could  have  made  better  time, 
but  that  is  none  of  my  business,  although  I  do  lose  the  ser 
vices  of  ten  thousand  of  my  best  men  in  the  campaign  over 
here.  I  am  glad  you  are  pleased  with  Generals  Smith  and 
Mower.  Though  I  want  both,  I  cannot  call  for  them  as  long 
as  their  associates  are  in  danger. ' '  2 

And  from  Chattanooga  on  the  3d  of  May  : 

"  I  cannot  comprehend  why  Banks  after  his  second  fight, 
when  the  fact  is  undoubted  he  had  checked  the  enemy 
and  had  his  front  open,  did  not  push  on  to  meet  you  at 
Coushatta.  It  would  then  have  had  all  the  moral  effect  of  a 
victory,  and  his  losses,  though  heavy,  would  have  been  less 
felt.  .  .  .  Of  course  I  am  gratified  to  know  I  was  not 
mistaken  in  the  character  of  the  officers  and  men  that  I  con 
tributed  to  the  expedition.  I  knew  that  A.  J.  Smith  and 
Mower  were  good  soldiers  and  that  T.  Kilby  Smith  wras  a 

1  War  Records,  vol.  xxxiv.,  series  i.,  part  iii.,  p.  174. 

2  Ibid.,  series  i.,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  iii.,  p.  275. 


Memoir  i  2 1 

courteous  gentleman,  with  whom  you  would  be  pleased  to 
associate."  ' 

When  the  command  of  A.  J.  Smith  had  returned  from  the 
Red  River  expedition,  it  was  ordered  to  Vicksburg,  whither 
it  at  once  proceeded,  and  on  the  25th  of  May  the  following 
final  report  was  made  by  Gen.  T.  Kilby  Smith  : 

"  HDQRS.  DIVISION,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

"  VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  May  25,  1864. 

"  CAPTAIN  : 

"  In  obedience  to  orders,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the 
following  synopsis  report  of  the  part  taken  by  my  command 
in  the  Red  River  expedition  : 

' '  First,  my  command  consists  as  follows  :  First  Brigade, 
Col.  J.  B.  Moore  commanding,  composed  of  33d  Wisconsin 
Volunteers,  Maj.  H.  H.  Virgin  commanding  ;  3d  Iowa  Vol 
unteers,  Lieut. -Col.  James  Tullis  commanding  :  4ist  Illinois 
Volunteers,  Lieut. -Col.  J.  H.  Nale  commanding.  Second 
Brigade,  Col.  L-  M.  Ward  commanding,  composed  of  95th 
Illinois  Volunteers,  Lieut. -Col.  T.  W.  Humphreys  com 
manding  ;  8ist  Illinois  Volunteers,  Lieut. -Col.  A.  W. 
Rogers  commanding  ;  i4th  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  Lieut. - 
Col.  J.  W.  Polleys  commanding  ;  and  Battery  M,  ist  Mis 
souri  Light  Artillery,  Lieut.  John  H.  Tiemeyer  commanding, 
numbering  in  rank  and  file,  2237. 

"  Second.  In  obedience  to  your  orders  of  March  10,  1864, 
I  embarked  my  command  at  Vicksburg  on  transports  as 
signed.  March  zoth,  7  P.M.,  sailed  from  Vicksburg,  arriving 
back  at  the  same  port  May  24th,  3  A.M.,  having  marched  by 
land  239  miles. 

' '  Third.  My  command,  in  whole  or  part,  has  been  in  the 
following  engagements  and  skirmishes,  viz.  :  (i)  Fort  De 
Russy,  March  i4th  ;  (2)  Pleasant  Hill  Landing,  April  i2th 
and  1 3th  ;  (3)  Cloutierville,  April  23d  ;  (4)  near  Cloutier- 
ville,  April  24th  ;  (5)  Moore's  Plantation,  May  4th  ;  (6) 
Boyce's  Plantation,  May  6th  ;  (7)  Governor  Wells' s  Planta 
tion,  May  6th  ;  (8)  Bayou  Boeuf,  May  7th  ;  (9)  Marksville, 
^lay  i6th  ;  (10)  Moreauville,  May  lyth  ;  (n  and  12)  Yellow 
Bayou,  May  i8th. 

1  Ibid.,  p.  411. 


1 2  2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  Fourth.  The  casualties  are  as  follows  : 


COMMAND. 

KILLED. 

WOUNDED. 

MISSING. 

1 

a 

g 

I  :  :  Officers. 

a 

<u 
% 

a 

i 

fa 

First  Brigade,  Col.  J.  B.  Moore  
Second  Brigade,  Col.  L.  M.  Ward.  .  . 
Battery  M,  First  Missouri  Light  Ar 
tillery    Lieut   T    H  Tietneyer 

I 

5 
5 

2 

15 
22 

3 

i 

2] 

28 

5 

Total                      

I 

12 

40 

i 

54 

' '  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 

servant, 

'  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH, 
"  Brigadier-General,  Commanding. 
"  Capt.  J.  HOUGH, 

"  Asst.  Adjt-Gen.,  Detach.  Sixteenth  and  Seventeeth 
' '  Army  Corps. ' ' 

Gen.  Kilby  Smith's  division  was  directed  to  proceed  with 
out  delay  to  Memphis,  to  report  to  Maj.-Gen.  C.  C.  Wash- 
burn,  commanding  the  District  of  West  Tennessee.  General 
Canby,  in  a  letter  to  General  Halleck,  under  date  of  May  28, 
1864,  writes  : 

' '  I  have  sent  the  detachment  of  the  Seventeenth  Army 
Corps  of  Brig.-Gen.  T.  K.  Smith  to  Memphis.  If  General 
Steele  should  not  be  threatened  by  any  considerable  force, 
the  division  of  Maj.-Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  will  also  be  sent  to 
that  place.  The  force  in  the  District  of  West  Tennessee  will 
be  increased  as  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  Sherman's 
rear,  as  his  operations  are  far  more  important  than  any 
that  can  be  undertaken  immediately  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  .  .  ." 

This  order  severed  the  military  relations  that  had  existed 
during  so  eventful  a  period  between  Generals  T.  K.  and  A. 
J.  Smith.  Before  leaving  Vicksburg  the  former  wrote  the 
following  letter  : 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  iv.,  pp.  43,  44,  and  73. 


Memoir  123 

"  HDQTS.  Div.  SEVENTEENTH  A.  c., 

"ViCKSBURG,  May  26,  1864. 
"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : 

"  General  Canb}~  orders  me  to  report  my  command  to 
General  Washburn  at  Memphis  without  delay,  thus  relieving 
you  of  the  detachment  from  the  Seventeenth  Corps.  Trans 
ports  have  been  assigned,  and  I  have  directed  the  fleet  to 
sail  at  12  o'clock  to-night. 

"  My  very  feeble  health  prevents  me  from  bidding  you 
adieu  in  person,  yet  I  cannot  leave  without  some  expression 
of  my  feelings  towards  you,  or  without  thanking  you  for  the 
courteous  and  invariable  kindness  I  have  received  from  you 
while  I  had  the  honor  to  be  in  }^our  command. 

' '  Your  valor  and  energy  in  the  field  under  the  pressure 
of  unusual  obstacles,  have  won  for  you  a  renown  that  will 
become  historic.  No  soldier  who  has  served  with  you  but 
will  speak  of  you  with  pride  and  glory  in  your  leadership, 
and  not  this  alone,  you  have  shown  the  rare  faculty  of  win 
ning  not  only  the  respect  and  esteem  but  the  dear  love  of 
your  soldiery.  Our  regret  is  that  to  your  guidance  solely 
the  expedition  had  not  been  entrusted,  that  while  you  were 
gathering  laurels,  substantial  benefit  might  have  accrued  to 
our  cause. 

' '  Thus  much  I  had  written  when  you  interrupted  me  to 
bid  me  an  affectionate  good-by,  to  give  me  new  proofs  of  your 
goodness  of  heart  to  me,  and  though  what  I  have  written  is 
tame  in  expression,  I  must  still  send  it  as  coming  from  my 
heart  to  yours.  We  know  each  other  as  soldiers  and  gentle 
men  linked  in  patriotism  '  as  with  hooks  of  steel.'  May 
God  be  with  you,  sir,  always  in  your  bright  career,  and  for 
all  my  command,  officers  and  soldiers,  I  bid  you  farewell. 

' '  Faithfully  and  most  sincerely  yours, 

"  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH, 

"  Brig. -Gen.  Coindg. 
"Gen.  A.  J.  SMITH." 

More  than  a  year  afterwards,  when  the  war  had  closed, 
Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  testified  his  friendship  in  the  following 

letter  : 


124  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"MOBILE,  AI,A.,  September  i,  1865. 

' '  GENERAL  : 

"  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith  through  your  order  to 
General  McPherson,  was  assigned  to  my  command  in  the 
Red  River  expedition.  In  that  expedition  he  commanded  a 
division  of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  and  in  my  report  I 
have  mentioned  his  gallantry  and  ability  as  an  officer.  I 
am  sorry  to  see  he  has  not  been  brevetted,  and  respectfully 
ask  of  you  to  see  this  simple  act  of  justice  done.  While  in 
my  command  he  performed  faithfully  all  the  duties  assigned 
him  by  me,  and  is  as  worthy  as  any  other  officer  of  the  honor 
I  desire  to  see  conferred.  Very  respectfully,  General, 
'  Your  obedt.  servant, 

"A.  J.  SMITH,  Major.-Gen. 
"  Maj.-Gen.  W.  T.  SHKRMAN,  U.  S.  Army." 

This  letter  was  endorsed  by  General  Sherman  : 

"HDQTRS.  Div.  Miss., 

ST.  Louis,  Sept.  28,  1865. 

"  I  take  pleasure  in  endorsing  this  paper.  Gen.  T.  Kilby 
Smith  served  near  me  all  the  years  1862,  3,  and  4.  On  the 
Red  River  expedition  he  was  detached,  but  Admiral  Porter 
and  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  have  officially  and  privately  borne  the 
highest  testimony  of  the  value  of  his  services  on  that  cam 
paign. 

'  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"  Maj.-Gen.  Comdg." 

Some  historians  of  the  war  have  given  but  scant  attention 
to  the  Red  River  expedition,  which  is  not  surprising,  first, 
because  it  failed,  and,  second,  because  the  importance  of  the 
movement  was  overshadowed  by  the  grander  movements  of 
General  Grant,  who  had  been  placed  in  supreme  command 
of  the  armies  and  was  then  conducting  his  Virginia  cam 
paigns,  and  of  Sherman,  whose  successful  movement  on 
Atlanta  was  followed  by  his  triumphant  march  to  the  sea. 
It  was,  however,  the  culminating  point  of  Gen.  Kilby 
Smith's  military  service.  He  had  entered  the  army  in  the 
vigor  of  manhood,  endowed  by  nature  with  an  iron  con- 


Memoir  1 2  5 

stitution,  the  strength  of  which  had  been  steadily  sapped  by 
his  almost  too  energetic  devotion  to  duty  during  three  years 
of  nearly  continuous  field  service.  The  failure  of  the  plans, 
which,  if  they  had  been  successful,  would  have  enabled  A. 
J.  Smith's  command  to  have  rejoined  Sherman's  forces, 
debarred  him  from  that  time  from  acting  under  the  eye  of 
his  favorite  friend  and  chief,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  close 
association  for  the  most  part  from  February,  1862,  and  lost 
him  for  that  reason  the  opportunity  to  participate  in  the 
campaigns  in  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas.  It  had  a  serious 
effect,  moreover,  because  the  incessant  exposure  to  a  burning 
sun,  and  the  anxiety  of  a  difficult  and  delicate  command  gave 
the  culminating  blow  to  his  physical  strength.  He  was  sun- 
struck  on  the  march  towards  the  Mississippi  and  fell  sense 
less  from  his  horse.  Recovering  partially,  however,  he  was 
enabled  to  complete  the  duty  that  had  been  assigned  to  him. 
We  will  pursue  the  narrative  of  his  part  in  the  operations  by 
quoting  from  his  testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  Con 
duct  of  the  War.  This  body  had  been  directed  by  resolution 
of  Congress  to  investigate  the  Red  River  expedition.  There 
were  many  disagreeable  rumors  and  direct  statements  that  the 
moving  impulse  of  this  expedition  was  more  mercantile  than 
military.  The  Red  River  country  was  well  stocked  with  cot 
ton,  which  at  that  time  was  of  enormous  value  if  it  could  be 
transported  to  market,  and  the  statements  were  freely  made 
that  the  military  and  naval  movements  were  induced  by  the 
desire  to  bring  this  staple  within  the  Union  lines.  The  Com 
mittee  summoned  before  it  various  officers  and  civilians  to 
testify,  and  among  them  General  Smith,  who  gave  his  narra 
tive  on  the  4th  of  February,  1865.  The  preliminary  portion 
is  omitted  as  the  essential  facts  are  included  in  the  reports 
already  quoted.  From  the  i6th  of  April,  however,  until  the 
close  of  the  expedition,  the  story  and  the  opinions  of  the 
General  will  appear  from  the  following  portion  of  his  testi 
mony  : 

' '  Upon  my  arrival  at  Grand  Ecore  I  found  General  Banks' s 
army  engaged  in  intrenching.  On  the  i5th  day  of  April,  Fri 
day,  having  remained  a  little  time  below  Campti  getting  a 
steamer  off  the  bar,  we  moved  down  to  Grand  Ecore,  reaching 


126  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

there  at  10  o'clock  P.M.  (Finding  General  Banks  in  bed 
when  we  called  upon  him,  we  remained  over  night  without 
seeing  him.) 

"  On  the  i6th  of  April,  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps  com 
menced  fortifying.  We  remained  at  Grand  Ecore  the  iyth 
and  1 8th,  everything  remaining  statii  quo.  On  the  igth  we 
were  ordered  to  have  the  men  stand  to  arms  at  four  o'clock 
on  the  following  morning,  and  to  have  the  army  ready  to 
march  at  short  notice. 

"  On  the  2oth  of  April  the  river  was  still  falling.  We 
received  orders  to  be  in  readiness  to  march  against  the  enemy 
at  twelve  o'clock  meridian.  We  stood  to  arms  on  the  road 
until  half-past  two  o'clock  P.M.,  when  we  moved  out  on  the 
Natchitoches  road.  At  the  latter  place  our  division  had  the 
advance.  Up  to  this  time  our  troops  had  been  encouraged 
by  the  belief  or  direct  promise  that  they  were  to  march 
directly  upon  Shreveport.  But  now  it  had  become  evident 
that  we  were  on  the  eve  of  making  a  grand  retreat  instead 
of  marching  against  the  enemy,  as  announced  in  the  order; 
at  least,  it  was  not  the  way  in  which  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee  had  been  accustomed  to  march  against  the  enemy. 

"  Hearing  it  reported  that  our  cavalry  were  being  driven 
in  by  the  enemy,  two  regiments  of  our  division  were  sent  out 
as  a  support  ;  but,  not  meeting  the  enemy,  they  returned  at 
eight  o'clock  P.M.  ;  and,  at  ten  o'clock  P.M.  we  changed  our 
front,  moving  the  First  Brigade  and  a  battery  so  as  to  con 
nect  with  General  Mower's  left,  forming  a  crochet.  The 
position  was  a  very  good  one,  from  which  the  enemy  would 
have  found  it  impossible  to  move  us  had  they  had  the 
temerity  to  attempt  it.  All  was  quiet  during  the  night.  At 
this  time  we  were  four  miles  in  advance  of  General  Banks' s 
main  army.  As  it  subsequently  appeared,  it  was  placed  in 
that  position  to  enable  him  to  commence  a  retrograde  move 
ment  towards  Alexandria  while  moving  on  the  road  mean 
dering  the  Red  River,  while  we  amused  the  enemy  at 
Natchitoches. 

"  On  the  2ist  of  April  we  remained  still  all  day,  the  enemy 
being  encamped  some  six  miles  distant  with  quite  a  large 
force  of  cavalry  and  a  few  pieces  of  artillery.  We  stood  to 


Memoir 


127 


arms  until  ten  o'clock  P.M.,  when  we  moved  out  some  two 
miles  by  midnight,  and  here  we  were  detained  until  seven 
o'clock  A.M.  the  next  day. 

"  On  the  22d  of  April  we  marched  at  seven  o'clock  A.M., 
and  arriving  at  Cloutierville,  on  the  Cane  River,  at  three 
o'clock  A.M.  on  the  following  day,  having  marched  thirty- 
two  miles  from  Natchitoches.  We  made  the  forced  march 
of  thirty-two  miles  without  halting. 

"  At  three  o'clock  P.M.  the  skirmishing,  which  had  been 
going  on  for  some  time  in  the  rear,  became  quite  brisk. 
Colonel  Lucas,  commanding  the  cavalry  brigade,  sent  for 
ward  for  reinforcements.  Two  regiments  of  Colonel  Ward's 
brigade  and  a  section  of  artillery  were  sent  back.  They  soon 
drove  the  enemy  across  the  bayou,  making  them  withdraw 
beyond  the  range  of  our  guns.  We  lost  but  one  man  killed 
and  none  wounded.  As  soon  as  the  enemy  had  retreated, 
we  again  took  up  our  line  of  march  towards  Cane  River.  At 
half-past  nine  o'clock  P.M.,  the  men  having  had  but  little 
rest  since  the  night  of  the  2oth,  we  halted  an  hour  to  enable 
them  to  get  some  coffee  ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  we  again 
took  up  our  line  of  march,  arriving,  as  before  stated,  at 
Cloutierville  at  three  A.M.  on  the  23d. 

"  On  the  23d  of  April,  we  marched  from  Cloutierville  at 
seven  o'clock  A.M.  After  marching  an  hour  we  were  halted 
by  the  advance  having  some  difficulty  at  a  crossing  of 
the  Cane  River,  the  crossing  being  contested  by  the  enemy. 
Slight  skirmishing  continued  in  the  rear  between  our  rear 
guard  of  cavalry  and  the  enemy  until  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  when 
our  cavalry  commenced  falling  back  to  Cloutierville. 

"  I  ought  to  state  here  that  on  the  first  three  days  of  this 
march  my  command  had  the  extreme  rear,  General  A.  J. 
Smith's  entire  command  being  assigned  to  the  duty  of  guard 
ing  General  Banks' s  army.  My  own  division  was  ordered 
back  to  Cloutierville  to  meet  the  enemy.  I  formed  a  line  of 
battle,  facing  to  the  west,  my  left  resting  on  Cane  River  and 
my  right  on  a  belt  of  timber  in  which  we  had  deployed  a 
strong  skirmish  line.  General  Mower,  of  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps,  formed  on  my  extreme  right,  but  was  not  in 
the  fight.  The  enemy  first  came  up  in  double  column  in 


128  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

our  front.  They  were  soon  driven  back,  and  immediately 
made  a  move  to  turn  our  right  flank  ;  but  there  I  met  them 
with  two  six-gun  batteries,  masked,  and  three  regiments,  and 
gave  them  such  a  warm  reception  that  they  soon  returned. 
Here  the  musketry  fire  was  very  brisk  for  a  time.  The 
skirmish  line  was  instructed  to  fall  back  slowly,  if  pressed 
by  the  enemy,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  the  enemy  on  to  our 
reserves,  which  were  advantageously  posted.  At  twelve 
o'clock,  noon,  the  enemy  made  his  appearance  in  force  on 
our  left,  attempting  to  get  on  our  flank  under  cover  of  the 
bayou  ;  but  this  move  had  been  anticipated,  and  two  regi 
ments,  the  1 1  yth  Illinois  and  the  3d  Indiana,  supported  by 
the  4Qth  Illinois,  were  so  posted  as  to  sweep  all  approaches. 
No  sooner  had  the  enemy  made  his  appearance  than  four 
pieces  of  artillery  opened  upon  him,  sending  his  scattered 
ranks  back.  Thus,  before  one  o'clock  P.M.,  we  had  com 
pletely  defeated  the  enemy  at  every  point.  It  is  impossible  to 
tell  the  enemy's  loss.  We  took  many  prisoners,  all  of  whom 
reported  a  heavy  loss  on  their  part  in  killed  and  wounded. 

"  The  enemy  having  fallen  back,  and  our  forces  having 
moved  up  in  front,  we  withdrew  and  marched  four  miles, 
where  we  formed  a  line  of  battle  facing  to  the  west,  having 
the  cavalry  in  double  line  in  our  front,  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps  having  encamped  in  the  rear  of  us,  in  supporting  dis 
tance.  We  lay  there  during  that  night. 

"  On  the  24th  of  April,  Sunday,  at  three  o'clock  A.M.,  the 
enemy  saluted  us  with  some  half  a  dozen  shells,  evidently 
for  the  purpose  of  feeling  us,  and  hoping  to  draw  a  response 
from  us,  in  order  to  learn  our  exact  position.  At  five  o'clock 
A.M.  the  cavalry  pickets  were  driven  in.  In  a  short  time 
the  cavalry  was  ordered  to  fall  back.  Our  division  advanced 
in  line  some  two  hundred  3^ards.  The  enemy  came  on  with 
a  yell,  which  was  cut  short  by  a  few  well-aimed  volleys  of 
musketry  and  unceasing  cannonading.  The  enemy  fell  back 
and  we  again  advanced  in  line,  driving  them  beyond  the 
range  of  our  artillery.  Our  loss  was  four  killed  and  fourteen 
wounded.  From  deserters  we  learned  that  the  enemy  was 
severely  punished  in  this  engagement,  in  which  their  gen 
eral,  Parsons,  was  said  to  have  been  killed. 


Memoir  129 

"  At  nine  o'clock  A.M.,  in  obedience  to  orders,  the  troop, 
were  withdrawn,  but  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  the  enemy 
in  doubt  whether  we  were  in  ambush  for  them,  or  had  taken 
up  the  line  of  march.  We  crossed  Cane  River  at  twelve 
o'clock  noon,  and  arrived  at  Bayou  Cotile  at  nine  o'clock 
P.M.,  where  we  formed  a  double  line  of  battle  facing  to  the 
river,  having  the  cavalry  and  batteries  A  and  M,  of  the  ist 
Missouri  L,ight  Artillery,  massed  in  the  front  line. 

"  On  the  25th  of  April  reveille  was  ordered  at  four  o'clock, 
and  we  marched  at  ten  o'clock.  From  this  day,  for  the  first 
time  since  leaving  Natchitoches,  our  division  had  the  ad 
vance.  At  Henderson's  Hill,  there  was  a  slight  skirmish 
between  our  cavalry  stationed  there  and  a  few  of  the  enemy's 
scouts,  but  it  did  not  amount  to  much.  No  sooner  had 
we  left  Bayou  Cotile  than  a  squad  of  the  enemy  hove  in 
sight. 

"  On  the  26th  of  April  we  marched  toward  Alexandria. 
Cannonading  was  heard  in  the  rear  all  day. 

"  On  the  27th  of  April  we  arrived  at  Alexandria.  The 
gunboats  were  above  the  falls,  and  the  question  was  how  to 
get  them  down.  The  Admiral  arrived  with  his  headquarters, 
the  Cricket.  She  had  thirty-six  shots  fired  into  her  in  pass 
ing  a  rebel  battery.  I  think  there  were  forty-two  killed  and 
wounded.  His  fireman  standing  by  his  side  was  cut  in  two, 
and  his  chambermaid  was  literally  quartered.  The  decks 
were  a  perfect  slaughter  pen. 

"  On  the  28th  of  April,  at  twelve  o'clock  noon,  there  was 
a  report  that  the  enemy  was  advancing.  Then  came  a  re 
port  that  the  pickets  of  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps  had  been 
driven  in.  At  half-past  two  o'clock  P.M.  we  were  ordered 
out  under  arms,  forming  a  line  of  battle  facing  the  south  ; 
our  division  being  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line  ;  our  right 
resting  on  General  Mower's  command,  our  left  resting  on 
the  river,  having  a  battery  between.  We  threw  out  a  strong 
skirmish  line  half  a  mile  in  advance.  The  Thirteenth  Army 
Corps  was  ordered  to  fall  back  twice,  and  refused  to  do  so 
until  ordered  the  third  time,  when  it  fell  back,  setting  fire  to 
a  large  quantity  of  forage,  which  was  taken  from  the  fire  by 
Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  command,  he  having  thrown  out  a  bri- 


1 30  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

gade  over  a  mile  in  advance  of  the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps, 
where  they  remained  until  daylight  the  next  morning. 

' '  I  state  these  facts  here  because  at  this  time  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  panic,  or  that  which  approached  a  panic,  in 
that  command.  General  McClernand  was  there  in  command 
of  this  Thirteenth  Army  Corps.  They  actually  fired  a  lot  of 
sutler's  goods  and  forage,  which  were  very  scarce,  and  most 
all  of  which  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  took  charge  of,  or  as  much  as 
we  could  save  from  the  fire,  and  we  appropriated  it. 

' '  On  the  29th  of  April  we  received  orders  to  withdraw  the 
troops  to  camp,  which  was  done  at  nine  o'clock  A.M. 

' '  On  the  3oth  of  April  the  river  had  fallen  six  feet  since 
leaving  Alexandria  to  ascend  it  ;  but  it  was  said  to  be  rising 
at  the  time  from  back-water  from  the  Mississippi.  At  mid 
night  we  received  orders  to  march  at  one  o'clock  A.M.  ;  but 
instructions  were  received  from  General  Banks  to  be  ready 
to  march  at  sharp  daylight.  We  did  march  at  twelve  o'clock 
noon,  at  which  time  the  pontoon  being  finished  across  the 
Red  River,  we  marched  over,  and  went  into  bivouac  at  the 
Louisiana  State  Seminary  of  Learning  and  Military  Acad 
emy,  the  one  of  which  General  Sherman  was  superintendent 
at  the  time  the  rebellion  broke  out.  At  four  o'clock  P.M.  the 
troops  were  formed  in  echelon,  the  position  being  a  very 
strong  one,  with  a  strong  picket  line  covering  our  entire 
front  and  flank.  We  remained  quiet  there  during  the  day 
and  night. 

"  I  will  state  now  briefly,  that  from  that  time,  which  was 
the  ist  of  May,  until  the  i4th  of  May,  we  were  continually 
engaged  in  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  making  divers 
reconnaissances  to  the  front  to  ascertain  the  enemy's  strength, 
and  endeavoring  to  force  him  into  a  fight. 

"  On  the  i4th  of  May  we  commenced  marching  towards 
Simmsport.  On  the  2ist  of  May  \ve  re-embarked  our  com 
mand  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River,  in  the  meantime 
having  fought  a  battle  every  day.  We  were  twenty-nine 
successive  days  under  fire. 

"  Question.  Do  you  know  what  instructions  Gen.  A.  J. 
Smith  received  when  he  was  ordered  to  report  to  General 
Banks  ? 


Memoir  1 3  r 

"  Answer.  His  instructions  were  to  report  to  General 
Sherman  so  soon  as  we  got  through,  for  we  were  only  lent  to 
General  Banks  ;  we  did  not  belong  to  his  department  ;  we 
expected  to  rejoin  General  Sherman  in  his  campaign  towards 
Atlanta,  or  make  a  movement  towards  Mobile.  We  had  ob 
jects  ulterior  to  the  Red  River  expedition. 

"  Question.  Was  there  any  time  set  within  which  you 
should  return  ? 

' '  Answer.  The  time  specified  was  thirty  days  ;  after  the 
lapse  of  which,  General  Smith  sought  to  be  relieved,  but 
General  Banks  did  not  permit  him  to  leave.  But  the  comity 
which  existed  between  the  navy  and  the  army  seemed  to 
render  it  necessary  that  we  should  remain  with  the  navy 
until  they  had  at  least  gotten  over  the  falls  at  Alexandria. 
We  considered  that  our  time  was  entirely  lost  after  we  had 
brought  the  troops  back  to  Alexandria  ;  that  General  Banks 
could  have  taken  care  of  the  expedition  himself.  We  never 
got  to  our  command  afterwards,  but  have  been  in  detach 
ments  ever  since. 

' '  Question.  Do  you  know  whether  or  not  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith, 
during  the  time  he  was  with  General  Banks,  considered  him 
self  to  be  in  all  respects  under  the  command  of  General 
Banks  ? 

' '  Answer.  His  rank  precluded  his  occupying  any  other 
position.  I  know  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  was  adverse  in  opinion 
to  that  entertained  by  General  Banks,  because  I  heard  him 
on  more  than  one  occasion  express  himself  very  freely,  with 
out  approaching  to  mutiny  or  sedition.  He,  of  course,  ex 
pressed  himself  freely  to  his  brother  officers.  He  felt  as 
many  of  the  rest  of  us  felt,  that  our  command  was  to  a  con 
siderable  extent  being  wasted.  An  anxiety  on  the  part  of 
General  Banks' s  staff  seemed  to  be  felt  to  avoid  a  fight 
(whenever  a  fight  was  had,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  was  brisk  for 
bringing  it  on)  ;  and  yet  there  was  no  time  when  we  did  not 
feel  ourselves  entirely  competent  to  handle  the  enemy. 

Question.  :<  Was  it,  or  not,  the  opinion  of  Gen.  A.  J. 
Smith  that  our  army  should  have  advanced  after  the  battle 
of  Pleasant  Hill  ? 

' '  Answer.   It  was,  most  decidedly  ;  to  such  an  extent  was 


1 3  2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

that  opinion  entertained  by  him  that  he  proposed,  and  was 
anxious,  to  march  to  Shreveport  with  our  command,  feeling 
entirely  competent  to  go  to  Shreveport  and  do  all  the  devil 
ment  that  was  necessary  and  return. 

"  Question.  What  do  you  understand  to  have  been  the 
object  of  that  Red  River  expedition  ? 

' '  Answer.  It  has  been  a  mystery  to  me,  save  from  what 
transpired  en  route.  In  my  own  mind  I  came  to  the  conclu 
sion  that  it  was  what  would  be  called  in  military  parlance  a 
mercantile  expedition  ;  that  is,  an  expedition  for  the  purpose 
of  opening  the  country  to  trade  ;  or,  perhaps,  taking  advan 
tage  of  a  victorious  march  to  gather  up  what  might  naturally 
fall  to  the  army  of  the  government  as  spoils. 

"  Question.    What  facts  led  you  to  that  opinion  ? 

"  Answer.  The  presence  of  bagging  and  rope  in  large 
quantities  on  government  transports,  and  the  fact  that  upon 
one  occasion  when  I  was  assigned  to  the  transports,  the 
quartermaster  refused  to  give  me  certain  room  which  we 
required  for  some  troops,  on  the  ground  that  the  space  had 
been  assigned  for  cotton. 

"  Question.  Were  those  transports  to  which  you  refer 
army  or  navy  transports  ? 

"  Answer.  Army  transports.  There  were  no  navy  trans 
ports.  The  navy  gunboats  are  occasionally  used  to  transport 
troops,  but  they  are  not  well  calculated  for  the  convenience 
of  troops.  They  are  very  rarely  so  used  except  to  meet  exi 
gencies  of  the  service. 

"  Question.  Do  you  know  anything  in  relation  to  cotton 
operations  in  connection  with  that  expedition  ? 

"Answer.  I  do  not.  I  have  been  specially  careful  in  my 
service  in  the  southwest,  since  the  war  began,  to  avoid  inter 
course  with  anybody  who  would  be  apt  to  give  me  informa 
tion  in  respect  to  transactions  of  any  sort,  kind  or  description, 
relative  to  cotton.  General  Smith  gave  orders  that  no  cotton 
should  be  placed  upon  his  boats  for  any  purpose  whatever  ; 
and  if  my  memory  serves  me  right — I  have  no  written 
memoranda  in  regard  to  it — he  refused  most  positively  to 
obey  an  order  in  that  behalf,  with  the  remark  that  while  he 
controlled  transports  they  should  not  be  used  for  the  trans 
portation  of  cotton. 


Memoir  133 

' '  Question.    To  what  order  do  you  refer  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  refer  to  an  order  made  by  General  Banks  to 
General  Smith  while  the  transports  lay  at  Alexandria,  after 
our  return  to  that  place. 

' '  Question.    Can  you  give  the  terms  of  the  order  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  cannot,  for  I  do  not  have  it  with  me.  I  only 
have  it  from  recollection. 

' '  Question.  Was  this  cotton  that  you  speak  of  cotton  that 
had  been  brought  into  Alexandria  ? 

' '  Answer.  There  had  been  a  great  deal  of  cotton  brought 
into  Alexandria.  The  navy  had  seized  vast  quantities  of  it 
which  had  been  laden  on  barges  and  been  sent  down  the  river. 
There  were  also  two  or  three  large  boats  laden  with  cotton, 
as  I  supposed,  under  government  protection  to  some  extent. 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  cotton  left  at  Alexandria  when  the 
transports  finally  sailed.  That  was  destroyed,  as  I  under 
stood,  by  order  of  General  Banks.  I  do  not  know  that  any 
cotton  was  brought  out  from  the  Red  River  by  order  of  Gen 
eral  Banks. 

"  Question.  Was  there  any  cotton  taken  on  board  any 
vessel  by  order  of  any  one  connected  with  the  navy  ? 

"  Answer.  Yes,  sir  ;  Admiral  Porter  ordered  the  seizure 
of  a  vast  deal  of  cotton  ;  I  should  think  many  thousand 
bales. 

' '  Question.  Was  the  cotton  you  have  spoken  of  as  being 
on  board  during  one  of  the  fights  on  the  Red  River  put  on 
board  by  order  of  officers  commanding  the  army,  or  officers 
connected  with  the  navy  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  did  not  intend  to  convey  the  idea  that  cotton 
was  on  board  the  transports,  but  that  a  space  for  it  was  re 
served  on  the  quartermaster's  boat,  a  space  which  he  refused 
to  assign  to  me  upon  the  ground  that  it  had  already  been 
reserved  to  load  cotton  upon. 

"  Question.  I  do  not  refer  to  that,  but  to  one  of  the  fights 
above  Grand  Kcore,  where  you  said  your  soldiers  sheltered 
themselves  behind  cotton  bales,  bales  of  hay,  etc. 

' '  Answer.  That  cotton  was  a  few  scattered  bales  that  lay 
on  the  shore,  and  which  we  stopped  and  took  on  board  solely 
for  protection  to  the  troops.  It  was  afterwards  thrown  over 
board. 


134  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  Question.  To  what  quartermaster  do  you  refer  as  claim 
ing  that  the  space  was  reserved  for  cotton  ? 

"  Answer.  I  do  not  remember  his  name,  but  he  was  acting 
under  the  orders  of  the  quartermaster  of  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf,  Colonel  Holabird. 

' '  Question.    Do  you  recollect  the  name  of  the  boat  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  do  not  recollect  the  name  of  the  boat,  but  she 
was  a  quartermaster's  boat  ;  I  mean  by  that,  a  transport 
assigned  exclusively  for  quartermaster's  stores. 

"  Question.    At  what  point  was  it  that  this  occurred  ? 

"  Answer.  At  Grand  Bcore,  at  the  time  I  was  ordered  to 
take  charge  of  the  transports  and  proceed  up  the  river  to 
L,oggy  Bayou. 

(<  Question.  Do  you  know  why  the  army  was  detained  at 
Alexandria  on  the  way  up  the  river  ? 

' '  Answer.  Because  General  Banks  was  not  there  in  per 
son.  The  navy  was  very  anxious  to  move  up  the  river,  and 
the  army  was  equally  anxious. 

"  Question.  How  soon  did  the  army  move  after  General 
Banks  arrived  ? 

"  Answer.  Some  four  or  five  days.  Our  own  command 
was  put  in  motion  within  two  days  after  his  arrival. 

"Question.  Were  the  other  portions  of  the  army  ready 
to  move  before  or  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  General 
Banks  ? 

"  Answer.  No,  sir  ;  I  think  that  General  Franklin's  com 
mand  arrived  about  the  time  that  General  Banks' s  arrived. 
I  do  not  think  that  all  the  army  was  ready  before  his  arrival. 
We  were  ordered  to  report  on  the  iyth  of  March  ;  and  re 
porting  with  great  promptitude  were  somewhat  surprised 
that  a  movement  was  not  at  once  made  from  Alexandria. 
Celerity  of  movement  was  important  at  that  time,  inasmuch 
as  the  river  was  falling. 

' '  Question.  Did  or  not  the  army  move  from  that  point  as 
soon  as  it  could  be  got  in  readiness  to  move  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  think  not  ;  because  our  own  command  could 
have  been  sent  forward  as  advance  guard  at  any  time  after 
the  i yth. 

"  Question.    What  wrould  have   been   the  advantage  of 


Memoir 


'35 


sending  your  command  forward  if  the  remainder  of  the  army 
had  not  been  ready  to  follow  ? 

' '  Answer.  We  had  been  pressing  the  enemy  vigorously 
from  Simmsport.  We  had  defeated  him  in  every  small  en 
gagement  into  which  we  could  lead  him.  His  troops  were 
to  a  certain  extent  demoralized.  General  Magruder  and 
Gen.  Kirby  Smith  had  not  at  that  time  been  able  to  concen 
trate  their  forces.  Every  day's  delay  enabled  Kirby  Smith 
to  concentrate  his  forces  and  make  a  stand  at  some  point  be 
tween  Alexandria  and  Shreveport,  as  was  evidenced  after 
wards  at  Sabine  Crossroads  and  at  Pleasant  Hill. 

"  Question.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  it  would  have  been 
advisable  for  a  portion  of  the  army  to  have  moved  fonvard 
without  regard  to  the  readiness  of  the  other  portions  of  the 
army  to  follow  ? 

1 '  Answer.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  at  any  time  prior  to 
the  battle  of  Sabine  Crossroads,  our  own  command  of  ten 
thousand  men,  with  the  aid  of  the  navy,  could  have  gone  to 
Shreveport. 

"  Question.  Do  you  know  with  what  force  the  enemy  met 
our  advance  at  Sabine  Crossroads  ? 

' '  Answer.  I  have  no  means  of  knowing,  except  the  ordi 
nary  rumors  in  military  circles.  I  suppose  there  were  about 
twenty- five  thousand  men. 

' '  Question.  Do  you  know  whether  or  not  it  was  the  opin 
ion  of  the  principal  officers  connected  with  that  command 
that  one  cause  of  the  disaster  was  that  our  infantry  was  not 
concentrated  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Sabine  Crossroads  ? 

"  Answer.  That  was  undoubtedly  the  opinion  ;  that,  in 
short,  the  battle  was  brought  on  too  soon.  The  cavalry 
were  taken  unawares,  without  sufficient  support  of  the 
infantry. 

"  Question.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  the  infantry  should 
have  been  nearer  the  cavalry  at  that  time,  and  where  they 
could  have  rendered  them  immediate  support  ? 

' '  Answer.    It  is. 

"  Question.  So  far  as  you  know,  is  that  the  opinion  of  the 
principal  officers  connected  with  that  expedition  ? 

<c  Answer.    It  is. 


136  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

' '  Question.  Then  you  would  not  be  of  the  opinion  that 
the  cavalry  should  have  been  still  further  in  advance  of  the 
infantry  than  they  were  at  that  time. 

' '  Answer.  I  would  not,  unless  as  scouts.  I  do  not  think 
that  that  body  of  six  thousand  cavalry  (as  reported,  though 
I  believe  in  fact  there  were  only  three  thousand  five  hun 
dred),  under  the  command  of  General  L,ee — not  reflecting  at 
all  upon  him  as  an  officer,  for  I  think  he  is  as  good  an  officer 
as  we  have  in  the  service — I  do  not  think  they  ought  to  have 
been  forced  into  a  fight  without  any  infantry.  That  cavalry 
was  fatigued  by  a  long  march  ;  it  was  not  well  mounted,  and 
it  was  not  veteran  cavalry.  And  under  no  circumstances 
would  I  put  cavalry  in  the  vanguard  of  an  army  when  I  ex 
pected  to  fight,  except  as  mere  feelers,  especially  in  a  country 
like  that,  which  was  a  champagne  country. 

"  Question.  Was  the  topography  of  that  country,  and  the 
roads,  of  such  a  character  that  cavalry  were  not  as  efficient 
as  they  usually  are  in  movements  through  an  enemy's 
country  ? 

' '  Answer.  My  opinion  is  that  the  same  number  of  infantry 
would  have  been  much  more  efficient  than  cavalry  in  that 
country,  so  far  as  I  know  the  topography  of  that  country. 

"  Question.  Then  you  think  the  cavalry  should  have  been 
relied  upon  merely  for  the  purpose  of  observation,  and  not 
relied  upon  to  do  any  considerable  portion  of  the  fighting  ? 

"  Answer.  That  is  my  opinion  exactly.  But  my  opinion 
should  be  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  I  was  not 
there  on  the  battlefield.  I  did  not  see  the  ground  ;  I  make 
up  my  opinion  from  what  others  have  said  in  my  presence, 
from  my  general  knowledge  of  the  country,  my  general 
knowledge  of  the  command,  and  my  experience  on  other 
battlefields.  After  all,  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  opinion. 

Question.  Have  you  any  knowledge  in  relation  to  getting 
the  navy  over  the  falls  at  Alexandria  as  you  came  down  the 
river  ? 

' '  Answer.  Yes,  sir.  The  river  was  falling  rapidly  ;  the 
Eastport,  one  or  two  valuable  transports,  and  in  particular 
the  Woodford,  one  of  the  most  valuable  boats  of  the  marine 
brigade,  which  had  been  fitted  up  by  the  government  at  an 


Memoir  137 

enormous  expense  as  a  hospital  boat,  were  all  lying  aground 
above  the  falls.  One  or  two  projects  were  under  discussion  ; 
one  was  to  blow  out  the  bed  of  the  Red  River  ;  another  was 
to  construct  a  dam,  which  was  considered  feasible,  and  was 
the  generally  conceived  and  well  adopted  idea  of  the  whole 
army.  I  never  heard  any  discussion  about  it.  It  was  finally 
determined  to  build  cribs  and  wing-dams,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  increase  the  depth  of  the  channel,  by  forcing  all  the  water 
into  a  narrow  channel. 

"  Question.    By  whom  was  that  done  ? 

Answer.    It  was  done  under  the  supervision  of  Colonel 
Bailey,  of  Wisconsin. 

"  Question.  Was  it  done  by  co-operation  of  the  army  and 
navy  ? 

"  Answer.  By  the  army  almost  exclusively,  inasmuch  as 
the  army  had  better  facilities  for  doing  the  work  than  the 
navy.  However,  I  ought  not  to  say  that,  either,  for  the 
navy  furnished  coal  barges,  etc.  I  may  say  it  was  done  by 
co-operation  of  the  army  and  navy. 

1 '  Question.  Was  there  any  want  of  co-operation  between 
the  army  and  navy  ? 

"  Answer.  By  no  means  ;  they  were  exactly  en  rapport. 
Admiral  Porter  was  always  satisfied  with  the  celerity  and 
energy  with  which  the  work  was  prosecuted.  And  I  know, 
of  my  own  knowledge,  that  all  the  men  that  could  work 
were  at  work  all  the  time. 

"  I  have  been  asked  as  to  whether,  at  any  time,  during 
the  expedition,  our  forces,  or  any  portion  of  them,  could  have 
made  the  advance  so  far  as  Shreveport,  which  seemed  to  be 
the  objective  point,  and,  in  the  course  of  my  narrative,  have 
given  an  opinion  which  I  desire  to  explain.  I  have  always 
thought  the  troops  under  my  command,  trained  in  the  old 
'  Army  of  the  Tennessee, '  under  General  Sherman,  who  had 
led  them  constantly  onward,  and  never  to  retreat,  were  very 
far  superior  in  marching  and  fighting  qualities  to  any  troops 
the  enemy  could  bring  into  the  field  in  the  west  ;  and  the 
same  remark  could  be  made  of  that  portion  of  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps  who  co-operated  with  us.  Hence  I  believe,  by 
rapid  and  forced  marches  from  Alexandria,  on  the  i8th  and 


138  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

1 9th  of  March,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  could  have  reached  Shreve- 
port  with  his  own  command,  even  had  we  been  opposed  by 
twenty  thousand  of  the  enemy — double  our  own  number. 
But  the  enemy's  forces,  at  that  time,  were  in  number  and 
distributed  thus  :  Magruder  had  about  twenty  thousand — 
fifteen  thousand  serviceable — his  main  body  covering  Galves- 
ton  and  Houston  ;  Dick  Taylor's  division,  seven  thousand, 
upon  the  Atchafalaya  and  Red  rivers,  from  Opelousas  to 
Fort  De  Russy  originally,  but  whom  we  had  driven  and  had 
now  before  us  ;  Mouton's  division,  behind  the  Black  and 
Washita  rivers,  from  Red  River  to  Monroe,  numbering  six 
thousand.  Price,  with  five  thousand  infantry  and  ten  thou 
sand  cavalry,  held  the  country  from  Monroe  to  Camden  and 
Arkadelphia,  confronting  Steele — an  army  say  of  from 
twenty-five  thousand  to  thirty-five  thousand.  The  defences 
of  the  enemy  consisted  of  a  series  of  works  covering  the  ap 
proaches  to  Galveston  and  Houston  from  the  south,  the  de 
fences  of  Galveston  Bay,  Sabine  Pass,  and  Sabine  River  ;  ex 
tensive  works  at  Trinity  and  Fort  De  Russy,  and  an  entensive 
and  formidable  work  located  three  miles  from  Marksville  for 
the  defence  of  the  Red  River,  a  work  that  had  occupied  the 
enemy,  with  the  labor  of  five  thousand  negroes,  upwards  of 
a  year  to  construct,  and  that  was  called  the  Gibraltar  of  the 
South.  This  work  we  had  carried.  Steele  was  at  least 
entertaining  Price  ;  Magruder,  then,  did  not  dare  to  leave 
the  Texas  line.  The  enemy  would  not  have  abandoned 
their  works  at  Trinity,  and  thus  the  residue  of  their  army 
would  not  have  greatly  outnumbered  our  own,  and  the  best 
part  of  that  residue  we  had  on  the  run.  We  could  have 
lived  off  the  country  ;  we  were  used  to  it,  and  our  soldiers 
could  forage  and  keep  up  with  a  forced  march.  But  the 
lighter  boats  of  the  fleet,  at  the  then  stage  of  the  water  in 
the  Red  River,  could  certainly  have  ascended  to  Shreveport, 
as  was  proved  afterwards  by  the  boats  overcoming  the  most 
serious  obstacles  that  intervened  before  reaching  Loggy 
Bayou,  between  which  point  and  Alexandria  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  river  below  the  raft.  Still,  my  opinion 
must  be  taken  with  the  qualification  that,  as  a  subordinate 
officer,  I  could  not  know  the  plans  of  the  commanding  gen- 


Memoir  139 

eral,  or  the  orders  that  governed  the  campaign,  or  whether 
Shreveport  was  really  the  objective  point.  Nor  am  I  able 
to  say  what  co-operation  was  expected  from  General  Steele 
(whose  point  of  departure  was  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  to 
operate  in  our  theatre),  or  whether  he  was  acting  in 
dependently  or  at  command  of  General  Banks.  These 
considerations,  taken  together  with  the  knowledge  the  com 
manding  general  is  supposed  to  have  of  the  numbers  and 
movements  of  the  enemy,  his  own  strength,  and  the  objects 
to  be  accomplished,  would  neutralize  the  mere  opinion  of 
any  subordinate  general  who  was  not  the  confidant  of  the 
general-in-chief.  The  enemy,  at  any  time,  after  the  first 
week  in  April,  was  able  to  concentrate  from  twenty-two 
thousand  to  twenty-seven  thousand  in  our  front  (did  bring 
into  the  field  at  the  battle  of  Sabine  Crossroads  at  least 
twenty-two  thousand  of  all  arms  ;  by  some  reports,  twenty- 
five  thousand).  This  would  have  been  the  concentration  of 
the  commands  of  Magruder,  Dick  Taylor,  Mouton,  and 
whatever  Price,  who  was  still  confronting  Steele,  might 
have  been  able  to  spare.  At  this  time  our  own  army  was 
being  depleted  from  various  causes.  A  depot  of  supplies 
had  been  made  at  Alexandria,  necessitated  by  the  condition 
of  the  river,  and  the  inability  of  some  of  the  steamers  to  pass 
the  falls.  A  garrison  to  defend  it  was  the  consequence. 
Sickness  arising  from  bad  water  and  the  heat  of  the  climate, 
the  smallpox,  that  had  been  engendered  by  the  sick  on  the 
filthy  and  horribly  policed  marine  brigade  boats  that  had 
been  assigned  me  for  transports,  and  which  being  ordered 
back  from  Alexandria,  deprived  us  of  the  slight  co-operation 
they  might  have  afforded.  And  so  far  as  we  should  march, 
until  we  crossed  to  Texas,  the  Red  River  must  have  been 
our  base,  while  a  more  treacherous  river,  for  the  purposes 
of  navigation,  does  not  exist.  The  rapidity  of  movement  to 
Shreveport  and  instant  return  could  alone  have  saved  the 
fleet  from  stranding  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country. 
These  facts,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  state,  in  connection  with 
any  opinion  as  to  what  movements  might  have  been  made,  or 
the  results  that  might  have  ensued,  that  I  may  be  called 
upon  to  express. 


140  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  I  desire  to  take  this  occasion,  which  will  probably  be 
the  only  public  one  accorded  me,  to  speak  of  the  valor  and 
fortitude  displayed  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  my  com 
mand,  in  its  connection  with  the  Red  River  expedition,  that 
demanded  constantly  the  exercise  of  the  highest  qualities  of 
the  soldier.  In  every  engagement  with  the  enemy  in  which 
my  command  participated — Pleasant  Hill  Landing,  Campti, 
Natchitoches,  Cloutierville,  Cane  River,  Monsouri,  Yellow 
Bayou,  and  several  smaller  combats  near  Grand  Ecore  and 
Alexandria — we  were  successful.  My  staff-officers,  Captain 
William  Warner,  Captain  Scott,  Captain  Wetmore,  Major 
Carle  ;  my  brigadiers,  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  Col.  L.  M.  Ward  ; 
and  Lieutenant  Tiemeyer,  Battery  M,  isf  Missouri  Light 
Artillery,  deserve  the  highest  commendation  the  country 
can  bestow.  In  the  very  remarkable  passage  of  the  fleet 
from  Loggy  Bayou  to  Grand  Kcore,  vast  amounts  of  govern 
ment  property  and  stores,  with  munitions  and  ammunition, 
were  saved  from  destruction,  or  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  by  the  persistent  and  enduring  efforts  of  these  heroic 
men,  under  circumstances  appalling  to  all  but  the  truly 
brave.  The  merit  of  the  subordinate  is  often  veiled  in  the 
glory  of  his  chief ;  none,  among  all  who  did  their  whole  duty, 
in  obedience  to  orders  in  this  affair,  deserve  more  than  the 
gallant  officers  I  have  mentioned,  and  the  officers  and  sol 
diers  they  commanded.  Having  paid  this  compliment  to 
my  soldiers,  I  close  my  evidence  in  bearing  testimony  in 
favor  of  the  pilots  of  boats,  who,  in  the  affairs  alluded  to  as 
well  as  many  others  that  have  transpired  in  the  western 
waters,  have  developed  high  courage,  coolness,  and  faithful 
ness  to  trust.  The  pilot  at  the  wheel  is  the  first  man  singled 
out  by  the  sharpshooter  of  the  enemy  ;  his  wheel-house  is 
the  easiest  mark  for  the  battery ;  if  he  falters  one  moment  in 
his  exposed  and  delicate  trust,  his  boat  is  grounded  upon  a 
shoal,  or  bears  broadside  ashore,  at  the  mercy  of  a  relentless 
foe.  He  wins  no  fame  ;  his  name  never  appears  in  reports. 
I  have  never  known  an  instance  of  his  exhibiting  cowardice 
or  treachery. 

I  present  the  following  table  of  distances  from  Shreveport 
to  New  Orleans  : 


Memoir  141 

Shreveport  to  Waterloo 45  miles. 

to  Reuben  White's 15  "  60 

to  E.  C.  Aiken's 5  "  65 

to  Caspiana 5  "  70 

to  Madama  Bessiers 10  "  80 

to  mouth  of  Loggy  bayou. .  .30  "  no 

to  Grand  Bayou 15  "  125 

to  Willow  Point 8  "  133 

to  Coushatta  Chute 7  "  140 

to  Grappe's  Bluff 40  "  180 

to  Campti 20  "  200 

to  Grand  Kcore 20  "  220 

to  Tiger  Island 5  "  225 

to  H.  Tessier's 3  "  228 

to  George  Gurnege's 2  "  230 

to  P.  Rachel's 6  "  236 

to  St.  Maurice 5  "  241 

to  O.  K.  Landing 13  "  254 

to  A.  Favius's 3  "  257 

to  Montgomery 7  "  264 

to  Durand's 5  "  269 

to  Buckstone  Landing 6  "  275 

to  mouth  Cane  River 25  "  300 

to  Cotile 20  "  320 

to  Alexandria 20  "  340 

to  Pierce's  . 35  "  375 

to  Norman's 32  "  407 

to  Barbin's  Landing 3  "  410 

to  mouth  Black  River 40  "  450 

to  Red  Rivar  wharf-boat 40  "  490 

to  Bayou  Sara 45  "  535 

to  Baton  Rouge 35  "  570 

to  Placquemine 20  "  590 

to  Donaldsonville 30  "  620 

to  New  Orleans 80  "  700 

' '  I  feel  desirous  that  nothing  I  have  said  shall  be  construed 
as  in  any  manner  reflecting  upon  the  intentions  and  integrity 
of  General  Banks,  for  whom  I  have  the  highest  respect. 
There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  criticism  in  military  circles  in 
regard  to  the  Red  River  expedition  ;  but  there  was  nothing 
ordered  or  done  by  General  Banks,  within  my  knowledge, 
that  was  not  exactly  within  the  purview  of  his  instructions. 
Nor  do  I  desire  to  reflect  upon  any  ofiicer  ;  I  merely  desire  to 
state  the  facts." 


142  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

The  command  of  Gen.  T.  Kilby  Smith,  having  reported  at 
Vicksburg,  proceeded  thence  to  Memphis,  where  it  arrived 
on  the  3oth  day  of  May.  The  effective  force  at  that  time 
were  eighteen  hundred  men,  but  so  exhausted  were  they 
from  the  arduous  campaign  from  which  they  had  just  re 
turned,  that,  according  to  the  report  of  Gen.  C.  C.  Wash- 
burn,  to  whom  they  reported,  only  about  eight  hundred  of 
them  were  in  condition  to  take  the  field. *  Their  commanding 
general  was  so  low  from  the  results  of  his  field  services,  that 
he  was  carried  almost  in  a  dying  condition  to  the  Gayoso 
House  at  Memphis,  where  he  lay  ill  until  the  3d  of  June, 
when,  having  obtained  a  sick  leave,  the  first  furlough  of  any 
description  since  he  had  entered  the  service  in  October,  1861, 
he  proceeded  to  his  home.  His  division  passed  temporarily 
under  the  command  of  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  of  the  i4th  Wiscon 
sin  Infantry,  a  soldier  well  tried  and  entirely  competent  to 
maintain  the  credit  of  himself  and  his  troops.  A  portion  of 
the  command  was  assigned  to  the  expedition  of  Gen.  S.  D. 
Sturgis,  which  pursuant  to  orders  of  Major-General  McPher- 
son  moved  out  from  Memphis  to  attack  the  forces  of  the 
Confederate  General  Forrest,  who  was  then  at  Tupelo,  and 
also  to  destroy  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad.  Sturgis 
was  unsuccessful  in  this  expedition,  and  with  his  command 
of  three  thousand  three  hundred  cavalry,  five  thousand  in 
fantry,  and  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery,  he  was  routed  by 
Forrest  in  a  severe  battle  near  Gunntown,  Mississippi,  and 
returned  discomfited  to  Memphis.  After  this  failure,  the 
division  remained  under  the  command  of  General  Washburn 
for  some  time,  and  finally  returned  to  the  command  of  Gen. 
A.  J.  Smith  and  did  gallant  service  under  Thomas  in  the 
campaign  that  resulted  in  the  annihilation  of  the  army  of 
Gen.  J.  B.  Hood  at  Franklin  and  Nashville. 

From  the  gth  of  June,  1864,  until  October  of  the  same  year. 
General  Smith  sought  in  the  quietude  of  home  to  recover  his 
shattered  health.  While  his  former  comrades  were  fighting 
with  Sherman  at  Atlanta,  or  with  Thomas  in  Tennessee,  he 
was  compelled  to  a  life  of  inaction.  His  family  had  taken  a 
house  at  Yellow  Springs,  a  pleasant  village  in  Greene  County, 

1  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xxxix.,  part  i.,  p.  85. 


Memoir  1 43 

Ohio,  which  formed  a  haven  of  rest  for  the  families  of  a  num 
ber  of  officers  of  distinction,  those  of  Generals  Schofield, 
Stanley,  Rosecrans,  Scammon  and  others  being  there.  In  the 
pure  air  and  surroundings  of  that  pretty  place  he  recovered 
after  months  of  inaction  some  measure  of  strength,  and  in 
the  autumn  proceeded  to  the  Bast,  where  he  visited  relatives 
in  Massachusetts  and  also  made  a  visit  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  army  in  Washingtion,  and  at  City  Point.  It  was  not 
until  the  4th  of  January,  1865,  that  he  rejoined  his  command 
at  Clifton,  Tennessee,  when  he  was  at  once  assigned  to  duty, 
superseding  Colonel  Moore  in  the  command  of  his  old  divi 
sion  detachment  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. '  The  whole 
detachment  of  three  divisions  commanded  respectively  by 
General  McArthur,  Gen.  K.  Garrard,  and  Gen.  T.  Kilby 
Smith  was  under  the  command  of  General  A.  J.  Smith. 

The  loth  of  January,  found  the  command  at  Eastport, 
Mississippi,  and  on  the  iyth,  General  Smith  was  assigned  to 
command  an  expedition  of  reconnaissance.8 

1  "  Special  Orders  \ 
"No.  3.          5 

"  HDQRS.  DETACH.  ARMY  OF  THE  TENN., 

"  CUETON,  TENN.,  Jan.  4,  1865. 

"  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  having  reported  at  these  head 
quarters  for  duty  is  hereby  assigned  to  and  will  at  once  assume  com 
mand  of  the  Third  Division  Detachment  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Col. 
J.  B.  Moore,  now  commanding  the  Third  Division  is  hereby  relieved 
from  such  command  and  will  report  to  Brig. -Gen.  T.  K.  Smith  for 
assignment.  In  relieving  Colonel  Moore,  the  Major-General  com 
manding  desires  to  express  his  high  appreciation  of  the  able,  thorough 
and  soldierly  manner  with  which  he  has  executed  the  trust  confided 
to  him  in  this  command.  By  order  of  Maj.-Gen.  A.  J.  Smith. 

"  J.  HOUGH,  Maj.  and  Asst.  Adjt.-Gen."  * 
2  "  HDQRS.  DETACH.  ARMY  OF  THE  TENN., 

"  EASTPORT,  Miss.,  Jan.  17,  1865. 
"  Brig. -Gen.  T.  K.  SMITH, 

"  Comdg.  Third  Division. 
1 '  GENERAL : 

"The  Major-General  commanding  directs  that  you  have  your  com 
mand  in  readiness  to  move  at  an  early  hour  to-morrow  morning  on  a 
reconnaissance.     Leaving  your  camps  with  your  sick  and  light-duty 
*  War  Records,  series  i.,  vol.  xlv.,  pt.  ii.,  p.  509. 


144  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

It  was  fated,  however,  that  this  expedition  should  pass 
under  the  command  of  another,  for  on  the  same  day  orders 
were  received  from  Washington  directing  General  Smith  to 
report  to  the  Adjutant- General  at  that  city,  in  order  to  ap 
pear  as  a  witness  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War  on  the  subject  of  the  Red  River  expedition.  A 
portion  of  his  testimony  has  been  hitherto  quoted. ' 

General  Smith  remained  in  Washington  or  thereabouts  un 
til  February  18,  1865,  when  in  obedience  to  orders  he  started 
on  the  return  to  his  command.2  On  his  way  to  the  South 

men,  you  will  take  six  days'  rations,  three  in  haversacks  and  three  in 
wagons.  You  will  also  take  your  ambulance  train  and  one  wagon  to 
each  regiment  for  cooking  utensils.  One  battery  will  be  sufficient. 
The  cartridge-boxes  of  the  men  should  be  full,  and  about  thirty  thou 
sand  rounds  of  ammunition  taken  as  a  reserve  supply.  Cavalry  will 
accompany  you  and  full  instructions  given  before  the  time  of  start 
ing.  You  will  command  the  expedition. 

"I  am  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  HOUGH, 
"Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant- General." 

1  "Special  Orders! 

"No.  14.          f 

"  HDQRS.  DETACH.  ARMY  OF  THE  TENN., 

"  EASTPORT,  Miss.,  Jan.  17,  1865. 

"  2.  Brig. -Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  is  hereby 
relieved  from  the  command  of  the  Third  Division  Detachment  Army 
of  the  Tennessee  in  order  to  comply  with  telegrams  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  report  in  person  without  delay  to  the  Adjutant-General  of 
the  Army  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  Quartermaster's  department 
will  furnish  transportation. 

"3.  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  33d  Wisconsin  Infantry  Volunteers,  senior 
officer,  is  hereby  temporarily  assigned  to  and  will  at  once  assume 
command  of  the  Third  Division  Detachment  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
.  .  .  By  command  of  Maj. -Gen.  A.  J.  Smith. 

"J.  HOUGH, 
"  Major  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General."  * 

2  On  his  return  over  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  an  accident  oc 
curred  some  miles  west  of  Cresson,  by  reason  of  the  spreading  of  the 
rails  while  the  train  was  going  at  a  rapid  rate  of  speed  and  several  of 
the  cars,  including  that  in  which  he  was  a  passenger,  were  precipi 
tated  down  an  embankment  of  the  Conemaugh  River,  a  distance  of 

*  War  Records,  part  ii.,  vol.  xlv.,  p.  605. 


Memoir  145 

he  paid  another  brief  visit  to  his  family,  and  his  orders  re 
quiring  him  to  report  in  New  Orleans,  it  seemed  a  pleasant 
and  convenient  opportunity  to  indulge  his  wife  with  an  ex 
cursion  to  that  point.  Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  March, 
accompanied  by  her  and  his  eldest  son,  he  journeyed  to  St. 
Louis,  and  there  embarked  on  a  Mississippi  steamboat  and 
sailed  to  New  Orleans.  The  journey  was  an  uneventful  one 
but  immediately  on  reaching  his  destination  orders  came  to 
proceed  at  once  to  the  army  before  Mobile.  Mrs.  Smith  had 
no  alternative  but  to  return  with  her  son  after  but  twenty- 
four  hours  in  New  Orleans,  while  her  husband  obeyed  his 
orders.  Reporting  to  General  Canby,  he  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  military  district  of  South  Alabama  and 
Florida,  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Gaines.  During  the 
month  of  April  the  Spanish  Fort  and  Fort  Blakeley  were 
captured  and  shortly  afterwards  Mobile  surrendered.  On 
the  28th  of  May,  General  Smith  was  assigned  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  district  and  post  of  Mobile,  and  made  his  head 
quarters  in  that  city.  The  duties  of  a  military  commander 
in  the  field  had  become  familiar  to  him,  but  those  of  a  civil 
administrator,  save  for  his  experience  at  Natchez,  were 
novel.  The  city  was,  of  course,  under  martial  law  and  the 

over  forty  feet.  A  newspaper  account  of  the  accident  says  :  "  Among 
those  most  conspicuous  in  administering  to  the  wants  of  the  wounded 
were  Gen.  T.  K.  Smith  and  Dr.  Hope.  Several  persons  were  killed, 
and  a  great  many  wounded."  General  Smith  says  : 

"It  was  only  a  little  after  five  o'clock  in  the  evening.  It  is  not 
known  how  often  the  cars  were  turned  over  in  their  fearful  plunge. 
They  were  broken  to  pieces,  and  one  of  them,  the  middle  one,  which 
is  believed  to  have  been  turned  over  twice,  had  its  roof  torn  off  and 
between  the  roof  and  one  of  the  sides,  the  men.  .  .  .  Several 
ladies  in  this  car  were  badly  injured.  So  steep  was  the  embankment 
down  which  the  cars  had  plunged,  that  ropes  had  to  be  employed  and 
the  car  seats  used  as  sledges  to  drag  to  the  top  the  wounded  and  dead. 
As  soon  as  the  cars  had  landed,  they  took  fire  from  the  stoves,  and  but 
for  the  prompt  exertions  of  the  passengers  would  have  been  burned 
up  and  the  loss  of  life  much  greater.  Snow  and  what  water  could  be 
got  from  the  run,  where  the  ice  was  broken,  and  carried  in  the  hats 
of  the  passengers,  were  the  agents  employed  to  check  the  flames. 
Twenty-three  persons  were  seriously  injured,  in  addition  to  the  two 
who  were  killed.  ." 


146  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

duties  of  civil  administration  as  well  as  of  military  had  to  be 
administered  by  the  general  in  command.  Many  difficult 
and  vexatious  questions  were  constantly  before  him  for  de 
cision.  The  most  important,  and  the  one  that  involved  per 
haps  the  greatest  force  of  character  to  determine,  arose  from 
a  request  of  the  newly  enfranchised  negroes  to  celebrate  the 
4th  of  July  by  a  merry  making  and  processions.  It  was 
much  feared  by  some  of  the  citizens  that  to  permit  this 
would  lead  to  violence  and  bloodshed,  and  General  Smith 
was  implored  not  to  permit  it. 

He  felt  his  duty  to  be  otherwise,  however,  and  the  results 
indicated  the  wisdom  of  his  conduct,  for  the  affair  termi 
nated  most  successfully  and  without  producing  any  ill- 
feeling. 

General  Smith's  military  career  had  now  practically  ter 
minated.  He  had  heard  for  the  last  time  the  sound  of  a 
hostile  gun.  It  had  been  his  fortune  to  fight  his  way 
along  the  whole  course  of  the  ' '  Father  of  Waters ' '  and 
many  of  its  tributary  streams  from  the  State  of  Kentucky 
until  it  poured  its  waters  in  the  gulf.  He  had  attained 
the  highest  rank  but  one  grade  that  could  be  reached  in 
the  volunteer  service.  The  best  years  of  his  life  had  been 
given  freely  to  the  service  of  the  Government.  From  every 
commanding  officer  he  had  received  encomium  and  no 
word  of  censure  appears  in  the  records  upon  his  military 
or  civil  conduct.  His  misfortune  had  been  to  be  sepa 
rated  from  Sherman  by  the  Red  River  expedition.  No 
doubt  this  duty  had  been  assigned  to  him  as  a  special  com 
pliment  and  evidence  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  Generals 
McPherson  and  Sherman  ;  but  the  hardships  had  exhausted 
his  physical  strength  already  seriously  undermined.  He 
had  been  unable  to  return  to  the  front  in  time  to  take  part 
in  the  field  service  at  Nashville,  and  he  was  forever  separated 
from  the  bulk  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee  that  had  swept 
through  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas,  until  it  had  forced  the 
surrender  of  General  Joe  Johnson,  and  finally  participated  in 
the  grand  review  at  Washington.  The  spring  of  1865  wit 
nessed  the  final  collapse  of  the  great  rebellion.  The  sur 
render  of  lyee  at  Appomattox  preceded  but  a  short  time  that 


Memoir  j  4  7 

of  Johnson,  and  during  the  summer  the  last  organized  forces 
of  the  Confederates  under  General  K.  Kirby  Smith  in  Texas, 
lowered  the  flag  they  had  so  gallantly  defended  during  four 
years  of  most  terrific  warfare.  On  the  226.  of  August,  1865, 
General  Smith  was  relieved  from  the  command  of  the  post 
and  district  of  Mobile.  General  Canby  on  a  subsequent 
occasion  bore  the  following  testimony  to  his  services  in  that 
theatre  of  war : 

"  HDQTRS.  DEPARTMENT  OF  WASHINGTON, 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  7,  1867. 

"  Brevt.  Major-Gen.  T.  Kilby  Smith  reported  to  me  for 
duty  just  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  Mobile  campaign 
in  the  spring  of  1865,  and  was  assigned  to  one  of  the  most 
important  commands  of  that  campaign,  that  of  the  district 
of  South  Alabama,  including  the  large  depots  at  the  mouth 
of  Mobile  Bay.  The  duties  of  this  command  involved  ex 
ecutive  and  administrative  abilities  of  a  high  order.  These 
duties  were  intelligently  and  efficiently  performed  and  were 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  success  of  the  campaign. 
After  the  fall  of  Mobile,  General  Smith  was  transferred  to 
that  city,  and  in  addition  to  his  military  duties  was  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  the  civil  administration  of  that  city 
and  district.  These  quasi-civil  duties  were  performed  with 
discretion  and  judgment,  and  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  city 
was  preserved  through  two  or  three  periods  of  excitement 
that  threatened  to  result  in  disorder.  General  Smith's 
official  and  personal  conduct  during  the  period  of  his  con 
nection  with  my  command  was  fully  approved. 

"  ED.  R.  S.  CANBY, 
"  Brig. -Gen.  and  Bvt.  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  Army." 

On  the  1 3th  of  March,  1865,  as  nas  been  hitherto  men 
tioned,  General  Smith  received  the  brevet  of  Major- General 
of  Volunteers  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  during  the 
war,  and  with  this  rank,  after  a  leave  of  absence  until  January 
15,  1866,  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service  of 
the  United  States.  It  had  been  his  ambition  to  continue  in 
the  military  profession.  His  habit  of  mind  fitted  him  pecul 
iarly  for  the  duties  of  a  soldier  and  he  had  won  the  right  to 


148  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

wear  the  livery  of  the  Government  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  This,  however,  was  not  to  be.  In  the  autumn  of 
1865  he  had  moved  his  family  from  Ohio  to  Torresdale,  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia,  in  order 
to  place  his  daughters  at  the  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  to 
be  educated,  and  his  sons  at  school  in  the  city.  Although 
in  feeble  health,  his  spirits  were  still  high  ;  and  he  felt  certain 
that  his  services  during  the  war  had  entitled  him  to  con 
sideration  at  the  hands  of  the  Government.  Meantime  he 
sought  relaxation,  and  in  company  with  General  Sherman 
he  made  an  extensive  tour  through  New  England  and 
Canada.  Wherever  the  party  stopped  it  was  received  with 
unbounded  enthusiasm.  While  in  New  England  they  visited 
the  historic  Dartmouth  College  at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire, 
and  that  institution  conferred  honorary  degrees  on  several 
of  the  soldiers,  who  with  Sherman  had  illustrated  the  service. 
That  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  General  Smith, 
a  distinction  that  he  very  highly  appreciated.  Although 
not  a  college  graduate,  he  was  a  fine  scholar  in  the  English 
classics,  with  some  knowledge  of  French  and  of  Latin.  Re 
proach  has  been  cast  upon  some  collegiate  institutions  for  the 
freedom  with  which  they  are  wont  to  lavish  the  degrees  they 
are  entitled  to  confer  ;  but  in  this  case  the  honor  fell  upon 
one  who  could  bear  with  dignity  and  pride  the  title  of  Master 
of  the  liberal  arts.  On  the  recommendation  of  General 
Sherman  he  filed  his  application  for  a  commission  in  the 
regular  army,  and  it  was  thought  by  his  friends  that  the 
rank  of  colonel  might  have  been  bestowed  upon  him  with 
entire  propriety.  His  application,  however,  did  not  meet 
with  favor,  and  it  became  necessaty  for  him  to  turn  his  eyes 
in  another  direction.  The  delegation  from  the  State  of  Ohio 
in  Congress  without  exception  recommended  his  name  to 
the  President  for  appointment  in  the  civil  service  and  finally 
he  was  persuaded  against  his  better  judgment  to  take  the 
post  of  Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Panama.  He  had 
been  confirmed  for  this  appointment  by  the  Senate,  when 
his  name  was  sent  in  to  that  body  for  the  consulship  at 
Havana,  but  owing  to  some  misunderstanding  and  probably 
to  the  personal  wish  of  Secretary  Seward,  who  looked  upon 


Memoir  1 49 

the  consulship  at  Panama  as  being  one  of  the  most  important, 
in  view  of  the  projected  canal  across  the  Isthmus,  it  was 
settled  that  he  should  keep  that  post.  During  the  remainder 
of  the  administration  of  President  Johnson,  whose  policy 
towards  the  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  States  General 
Smith  heartily  supported,  he  held  this  position,  but  was 
compelled  by  the  severe  trials  of  the  climate  acting  upon  his 
constitution,  already  so  much  shattered,  to  absent  himself 
frequently  from  his  post.  While  in  this  position  he  made  a 
trip  to  California.  A  number  of  questions  of  importance  to 
the  interests  of  the  United  States  arose  during  his  adminis 
tration  of  the  consulship,  which  were  handled  by  him  with 
good  judgment  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  government. 
In  politics  General  Smith  was  an  ardent  Democrat,  and  as 
such  he  was  a  strenuous  advocate  of  the  nomination  of  Gen 
eral  Hancock  for  the  presidency  during  the  campaign  of  1868. 
With  many  of  his  old  comrades  he  organized  a  convention 
of  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  city  of  New  York  during  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Democratic  Convention,  and  sought 
by  every  honorable  means  to  influence  that  body  to  nominate 
Hancock,  but  as  will  be  remembered,  the  movement  was  a 
failure,  and  Horatio  Seymour  was  selected  to  make  a  hope 
less  contest  against  General  Grant.  General  Smith's  per 
sonal  relations  with  General  Grant  had  been  most  intimate 
during  his  western  campaigns  with  that  soldier,  and  nothing 
had  occurred  to  occasion  any  personal  differences  between 
them.  But  on  General  Grant's  accession  to  office,  the  policy 
of  his  administration  caused  him  to  make  many  changes  in 
the  personnel  of  the  diplomatic  and  consular  officers,  and 
among  the  first  to  be  recalled  from  his  post  was  General 
Smith. 

A  short  time  after  his  return  from  Panama,  General  Smith 
was  called  upon  to  bear  the  heaviest  domestic  loss  that  had 
befallen  him.  Less  than  a  year  before,  his  second  daugh 
ter,  a  young  girl  of  unusual  beauty  and  charming  char 
acter,  had  met  her  death  b}^  a  sad  accident.  General  Smith 
and  his  family  had  by  no  means  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  this  sorrow,  when  they  were  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  mother,  who  died  on  the  22d  day  of  April, 


150  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

1869.  This  event,  although  it  might  have  been  expected 
ere  long  in  the  course  of  nature,  was  in  itself  a  severe 
blow,  because  it  too  was  the  result  of  accidental  circum 
stances.  At  the  time  of  her  death  Mrs.  Smith  was  in  the 
seventieth  year  of  her  age.  Reference  has  been  made  to  her 
untiring  efforts  in  behalf  of  her  son's  advancement  in  the 
military  profession.  She  had  never  been  separated  from  him 
for  any  length  of  time,  excepting  during  his  field  service, 
and  the  influence  of  her  strong  character  was  felt  by  him 
during  his  career.  She  was  but  twenty  years  his  senior,  and 
as  he  was  her  eldest  son  there  had  always  existed  a  con 
geniality  of  temperament  and  a  closeness  of  companionship 
not  often  to  be  seen  even  between  parents  and  children  of 
the  most  affectionate  natures.  The  character  and  life  of 
Mrs.  Smith  are  well  worthy  of  a  separate  memoir.  She  was 
on  both  sides  of  her  family  of  pure  English  blood.  From 
father  to  son  her  progenitors  had  been  prominent  from  the 
early  colonization  of  New  England,  for  the  most  part  as 
divines,  but  some  of  them  had  illustrated  the  profession  of 
the  law,  some  had  been  in  mercantile  life,  and  indeed, 
through  her  family  connections  she  was  related  to  many  of 
the  most  notable  of  New  England  people.  The  family  of 
Walter  in  the  male  line  became  extinct  many  years  ago. 
The  descendants  on  the  female  side,  however,  have  a  large 
representation.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Smith,  Mr.  William 
Walter,  was  a  very  successful  merchant,  in  the  old-time 
meaning  of  the  term,  and  sent  his  vessels  from  Boston  to 
various  parts  of  the  globe.  Mr.  Walter  died  at  the  com 
paratively  early  age  of  forty,  leaving  a  large  family  of  little 
children,  who  had  already  lost  their  mother,  to  the  care  of 
an  uncle  under  whose  direction  they  grew  up.  Eliza  Bicker, 
the  second  daughter,  became  the  wife  of  Captain  George 
Smith,  one  of  her  father's  master  mariners.  As  has  been 
said  hitherto,  they  were  married  at  Christ  Church,  Boston, 
by  the  Rev.  Asa  Eaton,  on  the  3ist  day  of  January,  1817. 
Captain  Smith  was  eighteen  years  his  wife's  senior,  but 
it  may  well  be  believed  from  his  bearing  and  accomplish 
ments  that  he  had  a  most  engaging  personality.  Mrs. 
Smith  became  the  mother  of  ten  children,  five  of  whom 


Memoir  1 5 1 

survived.  She  experienced  many  of  the  vicissitudes  that 
have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  American  families,  both  gentle 
and  simple,  in  moving  from  an  old  and  settled  community 
to  the  new  West.  She  had  to  contend  with  an  infirmity 
of  lameness  from  an  injury  contracted  during  her  young 
womanhood,  but  so  brave  and  cheerful  was  her  spirit,  so 
indomitable  her  energy,  that  she  quailed  under  no  trials, 
but  bore  her  part  with  unfailing  bravery.  Gifted  with  a 
strong  and  vigorous  mind,  she  was  proficient  in  English 
literature,  and  whether  with  her  pen  or  in  conversation 
possessed  a  style  both  winning  and  perspicuous.  She  num 
bered  among  her  friends  and  correspondents  many  dis 
tinguished  men  and  women;  and  had  it  been  her  fate  to  have 
lived  in  an  atmosphere  more  fitted  to  her  temperament,  she 
would  have  been  still  more  widely  known  for  her  remarkable 
personality. 

The  years  that  followed  until  1880,  were  spent  by  General 
Smith  in  almost  complete  retirement,  and  unmarked  by 
events  of  special  interest,  excepting  such  as  concerned  his 
domestic  relations.  Attached  to  the  modest  home  to  which 
he  had  moved  his  family  was  a  small  garden,  and  there  in 
such  intervals  of  health  and  strength  as  were  permitted  him, 
he  devoted  his  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  earth.  He 
had  always  been  extremely  fond  of  this  pursuit,  for  which  he 
possessed  undoubted  talents.  As  old  age  prematurely  came 
upon  him,  he  found  some  solace  for  the  trials  and  disappoint 
ments  of  life  in  his  works  of  horticulture  and  gardening. 
He  kept  a  keen  eye  upon  public  events,  however,  and  cor 
responded  from  time  to  time  with  his  old  comrades  and  other 
friends.  Acting  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  late  David  Paul 
Brown,  of  the  Philadelphia  Bar,  he  thought  at  one  time  of 
endeavoring  to  begin  again  as  a  lawyer,  and  in  that  city. 
Accordingly  on  Mr.  Brown's  motion,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  1 4th  day  of  January,  1871.  On  that  occasion  he  was 
enabled  to  present  to  the  Court,  through  Mr.  Brown,  com 
plimentary  letters  from  Chief  Justice  Chase,  his  old  preceptor 
in  the  law,  and  from  the  venerable  Judge  Bellamy  Storer, 
before  whom  he  had  practised  in  the  courts  of  Hamilton 


1 5  2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

County,  Ohio.  General  Smith  did  not  open  an  office  in 
Philadelphia,  however,  and  beyond  a  few  winters  in  Wash 
ington,  when  he  transacted  some  business  before  the  depart 
ments  and  in  the  Court  of  Claims,  he  did  not  take  advantage 
of  his  legal  privileges.  One  of  his  greatest  pleasures  was  in 
his  association  with  the  veteran  soldiers  who  formed  the 
Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  honored  with  the  post  of  Junior  Vice-Commander  of 
the  Commandery  of  Pennsylvania,  and  thereby  became  at 
all  times  a  member  of  the  governing  body  of  the  order,  the 
Commandery-in- Chief.  Whenever  he  could  do  so,  he  would 
attend  the  meetings,  and  always  had  a  ready  sympathy  for 
soldiers  of  either  army.  He  was  strongly  impressed  with 
the  view  that  the  war  for  the  Union  was  a  contest  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Constitution  in  all  its  integrity.  While 
heartily  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  he  constantly 
regretted  the  strife  and  turmoil  that  followed  the  attempt  to 
enforce  the  reconstruction  acts,  and  bemoaned  still  more  the 
evils  and  evil  tendencies  of  our  civilization.  Disappointed 
but  too  frequently  in  the  course  adopted  by  his  own  political 
party,  he  found  nothing  congenial  in  the  principles  of  the 
organization  to  which  he  had  been  so  long  in  opposition. 
In  1880  he  emerged  from  seclusion  to  give  his  aid  in  the  can 
vass  of  General  Hancock,  who  had  received  the  nomination 
of  the  Democratic  party  for  the  presidency.  Prior  to  this 
event,  General  Grant  had  returned  from  his  triumphal  jour 
ney  around  the  world.  Although  many  years  have  elapsed, 
the  memory  of  that  wonderful  progress  must  still  be  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  all  who  followed  it  from  nation  to  nation  ;  from 
the  West  to  the  extreme  limits  of  the  Hast,  a  plain  American 
citizen  had  been  received  with  an  acclaim  never  rendered 
but  to  the  greatest  of  men.  At  the  termination  of  his  journey, 
when  he  landed  on  the  American  continent,  great  cities  vied 
with  each  other  in  the  honors  they  paid  him.  In  the  city  of 
Chicago  a  special  effort  was  made  by  the  surviving  officers 
of  the  Armies  of  the  Tennessee  and  the  Cumberland,  to  meet 
again  their  old  commander,  and  impelled  by  this  feeling, 
General  Smith  made  the  journey  to  that  city.  No  such 
gathering  of  officers  of  the  war  has  taken  place  since  that 


Memoir  1 5  3 

memorable  day,  and  it  was  a  fitting  climax  to  the  progress 
of  the  great  American  soldier  through  his  own  country.  Al 
though  political  lines  separated  many  of  those  who  gathered 
then  and  afterwards  to  pay  tribute  to  Grant,  the  hold  he  had 
upon  their  admiration  and  affection  as  a  soldier  never  failed. 
When  the  great  general  reached  the  city  of  Philadelphia  he 
was  worthily  entertained,  and  graceful  recognition  was  paid 
to  General  Smith's  military  association  with  him  by  an  invi 
tation  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies  as  a  guest  of  the  city. * 

1  After  the  death  of  General  Grant  in  1885,  General  Smith  was 
one  of  a  Committee  to  prepare  the  usual  circular  upon  the  death  of  a 
companion  by  the  Pennsylvania  Commandery  of  the  Military  Order 
of  the  Loyal  Legion.  His  view  of  the  character  of  the  great  Union 
soldier  appears  in  the  following  tribute  : 

"  Circular  No.  15.  ^ 
"Series  of  1885.  L 
"  Whole  No.  36.  ) 

"  HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  ORDER  OF  THE 
"  LOYAL  LEGION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  PENNSYLVANIA,  Oct.  7,  1885. 

ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT. — Cadet  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  July  i, 
1839  ;  Brevet  Second  Lieutenant  4th  U.  S.  Infantry,  July  i,  1843  ; 
Second  Lieutenant,  September  30,  1845  ;  First  Lieutenant,  September 
16,  1847  ;  Captain,  August  5,  1853  ;  resigned,  honorably  discharged, 
July  31,  1854. 

"  Brevetted  First  Lieutenant  U.  S.  Army,  September  8,  1847,  '  for 
gallant  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  Mexico.'  Captain, 
September  13,  1847,  '  for  gallant  conduct  at  Chepultepec,  Mexico.' 

"Colonel  2ist  Illinois  Infantry,  June  17,  1861  ;  Brigadier-General 
U.  S.  Volunteers,  August  9,  1861,  to  rank  from  May  17,  1861  ;  Major- 
General  U.  S.  Volunteers,  February  16,  1862;  Major-General  U.  S. 
Army,  July  4,  1863  ;  Lieutenant-General,  March  2,  1864 ;  General, 
July  25,  1866  ;  vacated  commission,  March  4,  1869,  being  inaugurated 
President  of  the  United  States. 

"  General  U.  S.  Army  (retired),  March  3,  1885. 

"Elected  in  Commandery  of  Illinois,  December  3,  1879.  Insignia 
No.  2006. 

"  Transferred  to  Commandery  of  New  York,  May  2,  1883. 

"  Commander  Commandery  of  New  York,  May  7,  1884. 

"  Born,  April  27,  1822,  at  Point  Pleasant,  Ohio. 

"  Died  July  23,  1885,  at  Mt.  McGregor,  New  York. 

"WHEREAS,  The  closing  of  the  earthly  career  of  the  foremost 


154  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

The  defeat  of  General  Hancock  marked  the  close  of  any 
active  participation  by  General  Smith  in  political  affairs.  It 
was  an  event  that  he  greatly  deplored,  as  his  personal  rela 
tions  with  that  superb  soldier  had  been  intimate,  and  he  had 
for  years  endeavored  to  compass  his  nomination.  Although 
not  in  certain  health,  General  Smith  had  periods  of  consider 
able  activity.  His  greatest  pleasure  and  hope,  as  his  life 
drew  towards  a  close,  was  in  watching  the  development  of 
the  careers  of  his  children.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  see 
ing  one  of  his  sons  come  to  the  Bar,  and  another  to  be 
ordained  to  the  priesthood  ;  while  a  third  was  beginning  a 
career  of  usefulness  as  an  architect,  and  two  younger  sons 

soldier  and  the  first  citizen  of  the  American  Republic  is  an  epoch-line 
in  the  nation's  history,  that  event  renders  eminently  fitting  a  formal 
expression  of  the  heart-promptings  of  the  united  membership  of  the 
Acting  Commaudery-in-Chief  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  of  the  United  States,  with  its  clustered  associations  of  the 
army  and  navy,  by  means  of  which  that  great  commander  won  his 
triumphs,  and  compassed  his  chief  life-work  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  during  the 
past  quarter  of  a  century,  we  recognize  as  a  central  figure,  in  the  field 
of  arms,  in  the  councils  of  state,  and  in  the  representative  character 
of  an  American  citizen  at  home  and  abroad,  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant : 
a  soldier  who  led  the  armed  forces  of  his  government  to  final  victory 
over  the  greatest  rebellion  which  was  ever  subdued  among  men  ;  a 
Chief  Magistrate  who,  during  eight  eventful  years,  was  at  the  head 
of  the  national  administration  of  the  country  thus  saved ;  a  private 
citizen  who  received  unparalleled  honors  from  rulers  and  ruled,  the 
world  around ;  and  we  realize  that  by  his  brilliant  record  and  high  at 
tainment  the  glories  of  the  American  name  have  received  new  lustre 
and  wider  recognition,  and  there  has  been  given  added  cause  for  grati 
tude  and  rejoicing  to  every  loyal  citizen  of  the  Great  Republic. 

"  Resolved,  That,  beyond  all  the  glory  of  his  great  achievements 
on  the  field  of  battle,  we  perceive  a  grander  glory  in  his  magnanimity 
in  the  hour  of  victory,  in  his  wise  and  successful  pursuit  of  peace  by 
international  arbitration,  and  in  his  patriotic  and  fraternal  spirit, 
which  at  the  last  found  its  exhibition  and  its  reflex  in  the  loving 
words  of  mutual  regard  passing  between  him  and  those  whom  he  had 
met  in  deadly  conflict ;  and  of  which  the  culmination  was  seen  in  a 
re-united  nation  sorrowing  over  his  lamented  loss,  in  the  sight  of  a 
sympathetic  world. 

"  Resolved,  That,  among  the  millions  who  truly  honored  and  who 
sincerely  mourn  him,  none  can  transcend,  in  an  appreciative  recogni- 


Memoir  1 5  5 

were  still  at  school.  One  of  his  three  surviving  daughters 
had  married,  and  after  her  widowhood,  with  his  only  grand 
child,  formed  a  part  of  his  family. 

After  General  Hancock's  defeat,  General  Smith  was  in 
duced  to  make  a  brief  visit  to  Europe  in  company  with  his 
friend,  the  Honorable  William  Dorsheimer  of  New  York. 
The  reception  he  met  there  from  those  with  whom  he  was 
associated — soldiers,  statesmen,  and  diplomats, — was  most 
distinguished.  He  was  complimented  by  being  the  guest  of 
the  Comte  de  Paris,  who  had  not  then  been  exiled  from 
France,  at  his  royal  Chateau  d'Ku,  and  formed  a  friendship 
with  that  good  soldier  and  historian  that  continued  until  the 

tion  of  his  work  and  his  worth,  and  in  an  intelligent  sense  of  personal 
loss  in  his  death,  those  who  shared  with  him  in  the  battlings  and  en 
durances  of  his  multiplied  conflicts,  and  in  the  joys  and  rewards  of 
his  abundant  success ;  hence  it  is  as  those  who  not  only  knew  him 
and  were  dear  to  him,  but  who  were,  in  a  sense,  one  with  him  in 
prosperity  and  in  adversity,  that  the  officers  and  members  of  this 
Commandery  express  their  sense  of  exalted  regard  for  his  matchless 
memory,  and  of  reverent  and  tender  sympathj7  with  those  to  whom 
he  was  united  by  the  closest  ties  of  blood  and  of  affection,  and  who  in 
the  truest  sense  are  personally  bereaved  by  his  entering  into  rest. 
"Tnos.  KiivBY  SMITH, 

"  Brevet  Major-General  U.  S.  V., 
"GEORGE  W.  MINDIL, 

"  Brevet  Major-General  U.  S.  V., 
"  CHAS.  P.  HERRING, 

"  Brevet  Brigadier-General  U.  S.  V., 
"JOHN  McGowAN, 

"  Lieutenant-Commander  U.  S.  N., 
"  CLARKE  MERCHANT, 

"  Lieutenant-Commander  (late)  U.  S.  N., 
"H.  EARNEST  GOODMAN, 

"  Colonel  U.  S.  V., 
"H.  CI,AY  TRUMBUI,!,, 
1 '  CHAPLAIN  U.  S.  V., 

"  Committee. 
"  By  command  of 

"  Major-General  WINFIEI,D  S.  HANCOCK,  U.  S.  Army, 

"  Acting  Commander-in-Chief. 
"JOHN  P.  NICHOLSON, 
"  Brevet  Lieutenant-Colonel  U.  S.  V., 
4 '  Official.  ' '  Recorder. ' ' 


156  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

end.  In  1887,  William  Dorsheimer,  who  had  retired  from 
the  office  of  United  States  Attorney  for  New  York  City  after 
a  notable  career  in  the  profession  of  the  law  and  as  Lieu 
tenant- Governor  and  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York, 
had  assumed  the  proprietorship  and  editorial  management 
of  the  New  York  Star.  At  that  time  the  unfinished  tomb  of 
General  Grant  on  the  Riverside  Drive  was  appealing  to  the 
sentiments  of  patriotic  citizens,  and  Governor  Dorsheimer 
conceived  the  idea  of  raising  a  popular  fund  to  pay  for  it.  He 
enlisted  the  interest  of  General  Smith,  who  went  to  New  York 
in  the  hope  of  aiding  his  friend  in  that  and  other  projects  con 
nected  with  his  newspaper.  The  excitement  of  life  in  New 
York  had  always  had  a  peculiar  charm  for  his  temperament, 
and  now  forgetful  of  the  burden  of  years  and  infirmities,  he 
threw  himself  with  ardor  into  the  work  before  him.  During 
the  summer  and  autumn  of  1887,  he  worked  with  assiduity 
and  some  measure  of  success  ;  but  he  had  forgotten  his  limi 
tations.  The  once  superb  physique  could  not  respond  much 
longer  to  the  demands  made  upon  it.  He  was  taken  ill  in 
November,  and  gradually  declined  until  his  death  on  the 
1 4th  of  December.  He  met  his  end  with  quiet  courage  and 
dignity.  The  last  sacraments  of  the  Church  were  adminis 
tered  by  the  Rev.  Father  McKinnon,  S  J.,  and  after  parting 
with  his  wife  and  some  members  of  his  family,  he  passed 
peacefully  away.  General  Smith  had  become  a  convert  to  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  year  1874,  while  making  a  visit  to  the 
venerable  Archbishop  Purcell  of  Cincinnati,  a  man  for  whose 
personality  he  always  had  a  profound  regard.  He  numbered 
among  his  friends  many  of  the  religious  of  the  Church,  and 
though  the  larger  part  of  his  career  had  been  outside  of  her 
fold,  his  end  was  under  her  sheltering  arms.  General 
Smith's  remains  were  brought  from  New  York  for  interment 
in  the  Parish  Churchyard  of  St.  Dominic  near  Holmesburg, 
Philadelphia.  His  funeral  was  conducted  with  simplicity, 
and  was  attended  by  many  of  his  friends  and  military  asso 
ciates.  The  pallbearers  were  Hon.  William  Dorsheimer, 
Gen.  Thomas  Ewing,  Col.  John  P.  Nicholson,  and  Dr. 
H.  Earnest  Goodman.  His  second  son,  Theodore  Dehon, 
who  had  become  the  Rev.  Father  Maurice  of  the  Passionist 


Memoir  1 5  7 

Order,  preached  a  touching  discourse.     In  the  presence  of 
the  soldiers  and  friends  standing  beside  the  bier,  he  said  ; 

"  DEAR  FRIENDS  : 

' '  We  have  paid  the  last  tribute  of  respect  to  him,  whose 
mortal  remains  lie  before  us,  whose  whole  life  was  one  long 
act  of  devotion  to  friends.  God  Almighty  draws  the  hearts 
of  men  to  himself  in  various  ways.  He  whom  we  mourn  loved 
to  look  at  God  in  Man.  All  his  life  he  gave  to  the  service 
of  humanity.  A  tender  father,  an  ardent  patriot,  the  duties 
that  he  fulfilled  superabundantly  to  family  and  country,  were 
not  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  deep  craving  for  affection  that,  for 
so  long,  beat  with  every  pulse  in  that  fond  heart  now  still 
forever.  His  arms  reached  forth  to  embrace  all  mankind. 
So  frank,  so  brave,  so  open,  so  generous  !  The  artificial 
barriers  that  divide  us  childern  of  Adam,  the  temporary  dis 
tinction,  that  a  wise  Providence  has  placed  between  men,  and 
also  the  division  that  has  grown  up  as  the  unhappy  heritage 
of  sin  and  pride  and  discord,  all  these  things  chafed  and 
fretted  that  noble  spirit  whose  aspiration  was  for  the  perfect 
commune  of  undying  fellowship,  the  union  of  comrades  in 
heart  and  hand,  which  we  trust  he  may  enjoy  in  the  rest  of 
the  saints.  Therefore,  dear  friends,  he  loved  you  all — the 
lowest  with  the  loftiest — and  many,  many,  many  who  are 
here  to-day  in  spirit  with  us,  and  who  have  been  as  true  to 
him  and  to  his  beloved  memory,  as  he  was  to  those  with  the 
last  breath  of  life  he  drew.  M.ay  God  touch  us  all  here 
present,  his  family,  his  friends,  his  beloved  companions  in 
arms,  with  the  spirit  of  absolute  love  which  drew  him  at  last 
to  the  hope  and  faith  in  which  he  died  ;  the  hope  of  a 
blessed  immortality,  the  faith  in  the  Son  of  God  who  loved 
him  and  delivered  himself  for  him  and  for  us  all.  The  bless 
ings  of  Almighty  God  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  de 
scend  upon  us  and  remain  with  us  forever. ' ' 

The  death  of  General  Smith  called  forth  expressions  of 
profound  regret  and  admiration  from  many  sources.  Those 
that  he  would  have  valued  among  the  first  came  from  his 
military  friends.  The  Loyal  Legion  of  Pennsylvania  issued 
the  following  memorial  : 


158  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  MILITARY  ORDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

"  Circular  No.  5. 
"Series  of  1888. 
"  Whole  No.  156. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  COMMANDERY  OF  THE 
"  STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  April  3,  1888. 

"  Read  at  Stated  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Officers,  April 
2,  1888. 

"  THOMAS  KILOBY  SMITH. — Lieutenant- Colonel  54th  Ohio 
Infantry  September  9,  1861  ;  Colonel,  October  31.  1861  ; 
discharged  for  promotion,  August  25,  1863. 

"  Brigadier-General,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  August  n,  1863  ; 
honorably  mustered  out  January  15,  1866. 

11  Brevetted  Major- General,  U.  S.  Volunteers  March  13, 
1865,  '  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  during  the  war.' 

"  Elected  September  19,  1866,  Class  I.,  Insignia  376. 

"  Junior  Vice- Commander  of  the  Commandery,  1873-1877. 

;<  Born  at  Boston,  Mass.,  September  23,  1820. 

"  Died  at  New  York  City,  December  14,  1887. 

c<  No  fairer  illustration  could  be  found  of  the  volunteer 
citizen  at  his  best,  as  developed  in  the  experiences  of  our 
civil  war,  than  is  furnished  in  the  character  and  record  of 
Brevet  Major-Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith.  Born  of  a  patri 
otic  Puritan  ancestry  in  the  city  of  Boston,  he  was,  by  the 
removal  of  his  parents  while  he  was  yet  a  child,  brought  up 
under  the  stimulating  and  broadening  influence  of  that 
newer  New  England  life  in  the  earlier  West,  which  has 
shown  its  potency  in  the  men  it  has  supplied  as  our  nation's 
leaders  and  defenders. 

' '  In  addition  to  other  advantages  in  his  education,  he  re 
ceived  the  basal  lessons  of  a  military  training  in  a  prepara 
tory  school  conducted  by  Gen.  Ormsby  M  Mitchel  ;  and 
again,  after  his  graduation  from  Woodward  College,  he  was 
a  favored  and  a  favorite  law  student  of  the  Hon.  Salmon  P. 
Chase.  Honored  with  special  appointments  by  the  national 
administration,  and  by  the  courts  of  his  adopted  State,  he 


Memoir  159 

was  at  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  not  in  full  political 
accord  with  the  administration  in  power  ;  but  his  absorbing 
patriotism  and  his  profound  loyalty  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  our  nationality  overbore  all  minor  considera 
tions,  and  he  promptly  proffered  his  services  to  the  govern 
ment  for  any  position  in  which  he  could  be  made  available 
for  its  support ;  and  he  was  assigned  by  Governor  Dennison, 
of  Ohio,  to  the  command  of  a  regiment  of  infantry. 

"  Reporting  in  February,  1862,  to  Gen.  William  T.  Sher 
man,  at  Paducah,  Kentucky,  he  was  at  once  under  the  best 
conceivable  conditions  for  efficient  training  in  his  new  pro 
fession,  and  for  the  intelligent  recognition  of  his  services  by 
his  superiors.  During  the  important  battle  of  Shiloh  he  was 
suddenly  called  to  the  command  of  his  brigade  by  the 
wounding  of  its  commander,  and  in  that  position  he  bore 
himself  with  conspicuous  gallantry.  General  Sherman  says 
of  him  in  this  emergency,  '  He  was  at  that  time  compara 
tively  young,  very  handsome,  and  unusually  well  posted  in 
his  profession.'  Referring  to  his  return  with  his  brigade 
under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy,  General  Sherman  adds  : 
*  As  General  Smith  rode  at  the  head  of  his  men  I  thought  I 
never  saw  more  handsome  conduct  under  fire.' 

"  Steadily  gaining  in  the  knowledge  of  his  profession  and 
in  the  confidence  of  his  superiors,  he  was  much  in  severe 
service  after  this  vigorous  beginning  at  Shiloh.  He  was  in 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  and  he  bore  an  active  part  in  Sherman's 
co-operative  movements  at  Vicksburg,  having  command  of  a 
brigade  in  the  battle  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  and  participating 
in  engagements  at  Arkansas  Post,  Rolling  Fork,  Haines 
Bluff,  Baker's  Creek,  Big  Black  River,  and  in  two  direct 
assaults  on  Vicksburg  before  settling  down  to  the  siege  of 
that  stronghold. 

! '  By  special  assignment  he  was  for  some  months  on  the 
staff  of  General  Grant  ;  and  he  was  entrusted  with  various 
difficult  and  delicate  commissions  in  the  line  of  bearing 
despatches  between  General  Grant  and  General  Banks,  and 
in  flag  of  truce  communications  with  the  Confederate  au 
thorities  on  the  subject  of  the  treatment  of  colored  soldiers. 
He  was  also  at  the  head  of  an  important  court  of  inquiry  at 


160  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Milliken's  Bend,  Louisiana,  and  again  he  had  a  part  in  the 
battle  at  that  point.  He  accompanied  General  Grant  as  his 
acting  chief  of  staff  on  an  official  examination  of  the  positions 
and  forces  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  then  commanded 
by  Gen.  James  B.  McPherson.  He  was  in  active  field  ser 
vice  at  Natchez,  and  on  the  Black  and  Yazoo  Rivers,  until 
February,  1864,  when  he  moved  with  General  Sherman  to 
Meridian,  Mississippi,  and  had  a  part  in  the  second  battle  of 
Champion  Hills.  In  March,  1864,  he  was  assigned  to  a  part 
in  the  Red  River  expedition,  in  Louisiana  ;  and  in  that  cam 
paign  he  did  important  and  brilliant  service, — first  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  De  Russy,  and  afterwards  in  the  preservation 
of  Admiral  Porter's  fleet,  and  of  the  heavily  laden  transports 
which  it  convoyed,  at  a  time  when  a  greatly  superior  force 
*  came  in,'  as  Admiral  Porter  expresses  it,  '  certain  of 
victory.' 

"  After  his  part  in  the  Red  River  expedition,  General 
Smith  was  on  sick  leave  for  some  time  ;  although  for  two 
years  after  his  entering  service  he  neither  applied  for  nor 
received  a  leave  of  absence  either  longer  or  shorter,  nor  was 
he  ever  off  duty  in  that  period,  not  seeing  his  wife  or  chil 
dren  meanwhile.  In  January,  1865,  he  was  in  command  of 
a  division  of  detachments  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  He 
was  a  valued  and  important  witness  before  the  Committee 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  and  it  was  said  of  him  there 
that  he  was  a  notable  instance  of  a  general  officer  having  no 
personal  grievance  to  lay  bare.  Later  he  was  in  command 
of  the  District  of  Southern  Alabama  and  Florida,  and  again 
of  the  District  and  Post  of  Mobile.  Finally,  in  January, 
1866,  after  more  than  four  years  of  arduous  and  responsible 
service,  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  as  Brevet  Major- 
General  U.  S.  Volunteers. 

"  As  an  evidence  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  General 
Smith  was  held  for  his  personal  worth  and  for  his  military 
services  by  those  who  were  in  every  way  qualified  to  judge 
him  fairly,  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  both  Generals  Sher 
man  and  Grant  repeatedly  recommended  his  promotion  as  a 
brigadier-general  before  it  was  finally  accorded  to  him  by 
President  Lincoln  in  August,  1863  ;  and  that  they  wrote  of 


Memoir  1 6 1 

him  to  others  in  terms  of  exceptional  commendation.  In 
February,  1863,  General  Sherman  wrote  of  him,  '  His  record 
is  perfect,  his  habits  excellent,  his  endurance  wonderful,  his 
bravery  a  little  rash,  his  judgment  good,  and  all  he  wants  is 
hard  study  of  books  and  men  ;  I  mean  of  course  military  text 
books  and  the  men  who  compose  large  armies.  He  has  com 
manded  a  brigade,  and  now  commands  one,  and  naturally 
should  be  commissioned  as  a  brigadier. '  In  recommending 
his  promotion  in  March,  1863,  General  Grant  said,  '  His  ad 
vancement  has  been  won  upon  the  field  of  battle  and  in  camp 
in  disciplining  his  men.  Promotion  on  Colonel  Smith  would 
be  most  worthily  bestowed,  and  would  not  fall  on  one  with 
whom  the  question  would  become,  ' '  What  will  you  do  with 
him?  "  Yet  later,  in  writing  to  General  Smith's  mother 
after  her  son's  promotion,  General  Grant  said,  '  I  congratu 
late  you  upon  his  promotion,  you  will  believe  me  when  I  say 
sincerely  ;  because  it  was  upon  my  recommendation  that  he 
has  been  promoted.  I  do  not  know  that  Colonel  Smith  was 
aware  of  my  having  recommended  him.  At  all  events  I  did 
not  tell  him  so.'  And  General  Grant  added  that  he  was 
*  sincerely  the  friend  '  of  General  Smith,  '  with  whom '  he 
had  now  '  become  intimately  acquainted, '  and  '  acquaintance 
with  him  only  ripens  into  friendship. ' 

"  The  later  years  of  General  Smith's  life  were  passed  in 
the  quiet  of  a  home  life,  in  marked  contrast  with  the  stirring 
scenes  in  which  he  bore  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  days  of 
his  military  service.  But  it  was  a  life  which  illustrated  in 
its  unselfish  regard  for  the  dear  ones  of  his  family,  and  in 
the  courtliness  and  dignity  of  his  personal  bearing,  the  very 
qualities  which  had  evidenced  themselves  in  his  devotion  to 
his  country,  in  his  considerate  regard  for  the  men  of  his 
command,  and  in  his  personal  absorption  in  his  military 
duties  in  their  time  and  place,  when  his  soldier  life  was  his 
only  life.  '  Sometimes, '  he  said  of  these  quiet  later  years, 
'  in  my  solitude  I  have  fancied  myself  quite  forgotten,  and 
have  looked  back  upon  the  conflict,  when  I  was  a  man 
among  men,  almost  as  a  dream  of  the  night.'  Yet  that  that 
seeming  dream  of  night  was  a  reality  of  realities  in  his  ex 
istence  was  manifest  in  his  face  and  form  and  manner  at  all 


1 62  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

times.  In  view  of  the  strength  of  his  army  impressions, 
and  of  the  contrast  to  them  which  the  occupations  of  his  later 
years  supplied,  General  Smith's  love  for  the  Loyal  Legion 
and  for  the  companionships  and  associations  which  it  con 
tinued,  to  him  was  peculiarly  tender  and  hearty.  In  speak 
ing  of  this  fact,  he  said,  '  I  find  my  home,  my  heart,  my 
treasure,  in  that  band  of  companions  who  have  given  me 
countenance,  comfort,  the  sweet  savor  of  companionship, 
when  I  had  nowhere  else  beyond  the  limits  of  my  own 
threshold  to  go. ' 

"  And  so  it  is  that  our  lamented  companion,  Gen.  Thomas 
Kilby  Smith  illustrated  the  choicest  characteristics,  and  was 
one  of  the  best  representatives  of  the  membership  of  the 
Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  ;  and  that  he  is  sure  of 
being  held  in  special  honor  and  in  loving  remembrance  by 
his  companions  to  that  organization, — both  for  what  he  had 
done  and  for  what  he  was. 

"  H.  CLAY  TRUMBUU,, 

"  Chaplain  loth  Conn.  Infantry. 
"  H.  EARNEST  GOODMAN, 

"  Colonel  U.  S.  Vols. 
"W.  H.  H.  DAVIS, 

"  Brevet  Brig.-Gen.  U.  S.  Vols. 

"  Committee. 
"  By  command  of 
"  Brevet  Major.-Gen.  D.  McM.  GREGG,  U.  S.  V., 

"  Commander. 
"  JOHN  P.  NICHOLSON,  Brevet  Lieut.-Col.,  U.  S.  V., 

"  Recorder. 
"  Official: 

"  Recorder." 

The  Ohio  Society  of  New  York,  adopted  the  following 
minute  : 

' '  The  Ohio  Society  of  New  York  learn  with  great  sorrow 
of  the  sudden  death  in  this  city  on  the  morning  of  the  i4th 
inst.,  of  our  distinguished  friend  and  fellow  member,  Gen. 
Thomas  Kilby  Smith.  His  warm,  generous  nature,  his 


Memoir  163 

splendid  manhood,  his  patriotism  and  bravery  and  soldierly 
qualities  so  markedly  manifest  in  the  late  War  of  the  Re 
bellion,  commands  our  profoundest  respect  and  our  highest 
admiration. 

* '  The  Committee  respectfully  recommend  the  appointment 
of  the  following  members  to  attend  the  funeral  of  our 
lamented  friend  and  to  convey  to  the  bereaved  family  the 
warmest  sympathies  of  this  society  :  Gen.  Thomas  Bwing, 
Gen.  Benjamin  L,e  Fevre,  and  George  W.  McGill. 

"  C.  W.  MOTJI/TON, 
"  WARREN  HIGLEY, 
"  GEO.  B.  HIBBARD, 

"  Committee." 

General  Sherman  paid  his  personal  tribute  at  a  meeting 
of  the  latter  society,  in  these  characteristic  words  : 

' '  I  am  very  willing  to  testify  to  the  character  of  your  late 
esteemed  member.  I  first  met  him  at  Paducah,  where  he 
reported  to  me  with  the  54th  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  of 
which  he  was  colonel.  He  was  at  that  time  comparatively 
young,  very  handsome,  and  unusually  well  posted  in  his 
profession.  Where  he  got  this  knowledge  of  military  tactics 
and  science  I  do  not  know.  His  regiment  then  wore  the 
zouave  uniform,  which  he  afterwards  had  the  good  sense  to 
drop. 

' '  He  was  with  me  throughout  the  following  campaigns. 
Our  operations  on  the  Tennessee  River  have  already  been 
well  chronicled.  On  the  first  day  at  Shiloh,  Smith  was  with 
Stuart,  guarding  the  ford  at  lyick  Creek.  His  command 
was  driven  back  always  fighting  obstinately.  The  next 
morning  they  came  back  to  me  on  the  extreme  right  under 
a  heavy  fire.  As  General  Smith  rode  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  I  thought  I  never  had  seen  more  handsome  conduct 
under  fire.  This  was  on  the  yth  of  April,  1862. 

' '  After  being  with  me  through  the  entire  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  the  march  on  Meridian,  and  the  whole  campaign, 
General  Smith  passed  out  of  the  range  of  my  personal  obser 
vation,  but  I  have  corresponded  with  him  ever  since.  He 
was  genial,  kindly,  of  good  character,  and  entitled  to  our 


1 64  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

entire  respect — a  good  soldier  and  an  admirable  citizen.     We 
all  regard  him  with  unusual  affection." 

Notwithstanding  a  state  of  invalidism  that  became  settled 
from  a  date  long  preceding  the  close  of  the  war,  the  ardent, 
sanguine  temperament  of  General  Smith,  and  his  unusually 
handsome  presence  made  it  difficult  for  his  family  and  friends 
to  realize  even  at  the  last  that  he  had  become  an  old  man. 
He  had  the  rare  faculty  of  making  friends  with  the  young, 
so  that,  as  the  men  of  his  own  generation  passed  away,  he 
found  consolation  among  those  who  came  after  them.  The 
impression  he  made  upon  his  intimate  associates  is  well  shown 
by  the  tribute  of  Mr.  Dorsheimer,  who  followed  him  so  soon 
to  the  grave.  In  the  editorial  announcing  his  death,  occurs 
this  passage  :  * '  It  is  not  easy  to  describe  a  character  so  made 
up  of  gentle  and  noble  qualities.  We  prefer  to  think  of  him 
as  a  soldier,  a  name  that  befits  him  best.  For  he  was  brave, 
generous,  open-hearted,  yet  reticent  and  self-restrained.  He 
had  the  pride  that  goes  with  valor,  and  a  steadfast  devotion 
to  the  cause  he  had  espoused  and  to  the  men  who  trusted 
him.  There  never  was  a  man  more  faithful  to  his  country 
and  to  duty." 

He  was  called  upon  to  bear  much  sorrow  and  many  disap 
pointments,  yet  he  maintained  himself  with  a  quiet  philosophy 
in  the  face  of  danger  that  never  forsook  him. 

He  loved  nature  in  all  her  manifestations,  and  was  never 
happier  than  when,  in  field  or  forest,  he  could  renew  the  in 
spirations  of  his  early  manhood.  To  watch  the  flight  of 
birds,  to  listen  to  their  songs,  to  study  the  intelligence  of 
animals,  to  steep  his  very  being  in  God's  beautiful  creation, 
was  to  him  an  unceasing  joy. 

His  virtues  and  his  faults  were  those  of  a  character  formed 
for  lofty  activities.  Where  he  failed,  it  was  from  overwhelm 
ing  difficulties  ;  and  to  the  last  his  aims  were  always  for  the 
first  rank. 

lyet  this  imperfect  memoir  close  with  a  daughter's  tribute 
— the  evidence  of  a  love  no  martial  victories  could  win. 


Memoir  165 

"O  Lord,   Lord,   the  strength  of  my  salvation,   Thou  hast  over 
shadowed  my  head  in  the  day  of  battle." — Ps.  cxxxix.,  8. 

We  tread  the  fair  home  fields,  the  sunny  slopes, 

Just  as  of  old  ; 
While  in  our  hearts  the  dear  God-given  hopes 

Spring  manifold. 

Yet  are  we  mourners,  for  our  eyes  have  seen 

The  face  of  Death  ; 
We  late  have  wept  with  bitter  grief  and  keen 

The  passing  breath. 

"O  Spare  him,  Lord,"  we  cried,  "in  mercy  spare, 

For  we  are  weak  ; 
And  we  so  love  the  brow,  the  silver  hair, 

The  furrowed  cheek." 

We  have  so  loved  him,  he  the  chiefest  pride, 

The  living  light 
Of  our  glad  home  : — now,  all  our  joy  beside 

Is  lost  in  night. 

The  tender  father  and  the  honored  friend — 

The  soldier  brave — 
The  wise  commander,  fearless  to  the  end, 

Lies  in  his  grave. 

Not  on  the  battlefield,  and  not  in  strife, 

Closed  that  firm  eye  ; 
No  guilty  foeman  took  his  noble  life, 

Nor  saw  him  die. 

Yet  died  he  soldierly,  and,  calm  at  last, 

He  bore  his  part ; 
Brave  unto  death,  as  brave  in  battles  past, 

Was  that  great  heart. 

Still  falls  the  sunlight,  still  the  earth  is  gay — 

The  sky  is  blue  ; 
O  happy  world  !  Come  mourn  for  him  to-day 

Who  laughed  with  you. 

Come  mourn  for  him  ;  't  is  now  that  tears  should  fall 

And  pleasures  cease  ; 
While  sorrow-stricken  hearts  to  heaven  call, 

For  light  and  peace. 

HELEN  GRACE  SMITH. 


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1 68  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

short  time  since  wakened  from  a  dream,  with  her  soft  hand 
clasped  in  mine.  I  had  dreamed  I  was  in  the  old  house  with 
father,  dogs,  and  all  about  me  ;  that  we  had  walked  to  the 
garden,  he  on  one  side,  she  on  the  other,  and  that  there  we 
stood  together,  talked  and  planned  ;  and  the  young  vines  just 
planted  were  springing  at  our  feet,  and  the  grass  and  clover 
so  fresh  and  green,  all  so  vivid,  so  real,  his  eye  upon  me  with 
that  proud  fond  look  full  of  confidence  and  love,  that  when 
I  woke  I  found  it  hard  to  realize  it  was  but  the  recollection  of 
the  past  embodied  in  a  dream.  He  always  comes  to  me  in  my 
sleep,  and  if  there  is  truth  in  the  spirit  theory  is  with  me  by 
night  and  by  day.  Nobody  has  ever  loved  me  as  he  did,  and 
he  loved  none  as  he  loved  me.  I  am  always  a  child  when  I 
think  of  him  ;  the  past  seems  my  real,  the  present  a  dream. 
My  dear  mother  is  the  only  one  who  can  sympathize  with 
my  present  state  of  feeling.  As  she  reads  what  I  now  write, 
she  too  will  think  of  some  bright  moments  in  all  that  dark 
past,  green  isles  in  the  vast  dead  sea  of  trouble,  and  as  she 
thinks  of  the  curly  headed  child,  the  earnest  boy,  they  both 
were  so  proud  of,  a  tear  will  dim  her  eye,  she  will  forget  the 
man  who  writes,  memories  like  the  rush  of  water  will  over 
flow  her  whole  heart  and  she  will  yearn,  as  I  do  till,  it  almost 
breaks. 

WASHINGTON,  July  27,  1853. 

In  respect  of  my  promotion,  I  have  only  to  say  that  on  the 
first  of  July  I  was  appointed  to  a  very  honorable  position  in 
what  is  called  the  First  Division  of  the  Appointment  Bureau 
in  the  Post  Office  Department — a  place  which  gives  me  con 
trol  of  the  appointments  in  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota,  and  that  my  salary  will  be  $1500  per  annum. 


WASHINGTON,  May  2,  1854. 

The  Capitol  grounds  are  very  beautiful.  The  grass,  to 
day  and  yesterday,  was  freshly  mown  and  now  looks  like 
velvet.  All  sorts  of  flowers  are  blooming,  the  trees  are  in  a 


Letters  1 69 

fresh  livery  of  green,  and  countless  birds  are  singing  in  their 
branches.  "  The  time  of  the  singing  birds  has  come."  .  .  . 
You  will  notice  by  the  papers  I  forward  to  you  by  this 
day's  mail  that  yesterday  I  had  the  honor  of  being  admitted 
to  the  Supreme  Court. 


WASHINGTON,  Dec.  16,  1854. 

Your  friend  Mr.  Stanton  has  been  in  the  city  some  time, 
has  called  once  or  twice  at  the  house,  and  will  dine  with  me 
to-morrow.  He  has  very  much  changed  for  the  better.  I 
never  saw  him  look  so  well.  He  has  achieved  great  reputa 
tion  in  the  Supreme  Court. 

CINCINNATI,  May  12,  1861. 

There  are  fifteen  thousand  troops  encamped  near  the  city 
with  more  pouring  in,  provisions  have  risen  above  New 
York  prices.  The  whole  city  is  up  in  arms  and  all  business, 
save  in  the  supply  shops,  has  ceased.  The  courts  have  vir 
tually  adjourned.  The  embargo  upon  the  exportation  of  our 
great  staple,  pork,  has  ruined  thousands.  The  steamboat 
interest  is  at  an  end.  God  knows  what  the  result  will  be. 


WASHINGTON,  July  20,  1861. 

The  city  is  in  great  excitement  and  filled  with  rumors 
from  the  seat  of  war.  We  have  nothing  yet  however  that 
is  at  all  reliable.  I  suppose  there  will  be  some  fighting  to 
day  or  to-morrow. 


WASHINGTON,  July  22,  1861. 

As  you  will  probably  have  seen  by  the  papers,  before  you 
receive  this  letter,  there  has  been  a  terrible  battle  fought  at 
"  Manassas  Gap,"  about  twenty-six  miles  from  here,  and  as 
you  may  not  have  seen,  our  army,  at  least  the  right  wing, 
has  been  badly  whipped.  The  city  is  in  great  excitement, 


1 70  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  streets  filled  with  flying  soldiers,  disbanded,  disorganized, 
without  officers  and  without  a  rallying  point.  Up  to  five 
o'clock  our  men  behaved  well  and  victory  was  apparently 
with  the  U.  S.  troops,  but  at  that  time  a  large  number  of 
them  became  panic  stricken  by  the  appearance  of  a  body  of 
rebel  cavalry  and  took  flight,  which  became  a  general  stam 
pede.  A  member  of  Congress,  Mr.  Blake,  who  was  witness 
of  the  engagement,  has  told  me  all  about  it.  He  says  when 
the  rout  commenced  that  the  behavior  of  our  men  was  per 
fectly  sickening.  That  they  threw  away  their  muskets  and 
haversacks  and  fled  like  frightened  sheep.  Teamsters  cut 
their  horses  loose  from  their  wagons  and  left  their  baggage 
and  stores  of  all  kinds  scattered  upon  the  road,  which  was 
strewn  for  miles  with  guns,  pistols,  ammunition,  rice,  sugar, 
flour,  horse-feed,  blankets,  everything,  in  short,  that  goes  to 
make  up  the  impedimenta  of  an  army,  while  broken  and 
overturned  wagons  and  carriages  (for  an  immense  number 
of  citizens  went  out  to  witness  what  they  called  the  races, 
expecting  to  see  the  rebel  forces  flee),  the  shrieks  of  the 
wounded,  and  the  pitiful  moaning  of  those  too  tired  to  make 
headway  and  who  were  trampled  upon  by  the  stronger  who 
came  after,  conspired  to  make  an  hideous  ending  of  the  day. 
The  enemy  in  pursuit  did  not  hesitate  to  bayonet  or  shoot 
any  of  the  wounded  found  by  the  wayside.  They  propose 
no  quarter.  The  dead  and  wounded  are  being  brought  in 
by  hundreds.  All  day  ambulances  are  passing  my  window 
on  their  way  to  the  hospital  freighted  with  their  ghastly 
loads.  A  mother,  Mrs,  McCook,  living  next  door,  has  just 
received  the  dead  body  of  her  son  borne  from  the  battlefield 
in  the  arms  of  his  father,  who  brings  the  news  that  another 
son  has  been  killed  in  the  same  engagement.  They  had 
eight  sons  and  four  nephews  all  in  the  service.  Many  people 
here  are  frantic  in  the  apprehension  that  Washington  will  be 
taken.  Beauregard  has  an  hundred  thousand  troops  now 
concentrated  under  his  command,  well  disciplined,  well  fed, 
and  flushed  with  victory.  He  may  press  his  present  suc 
cesses. 

Great  complaint  is  made  of  General  Scott  ;  this  as  a  mat 
ter  of  course  ;  if  our  army  had  been  victorious,  great  praise 


Letters  171 

had  been  awarded  him,  for  it  is  only  success  in  arms  that 
meets  applause  ;  nevertheless,  I  am  forced  to  the  opinion 
that  our  army  was  in  no  condition  for  a  great  battle.  We 
lack  officers  of  accomplishment  in  the  profession,  and  in  whom 
our  men  can  repose  confidence  in  the  hour  of  danger  and 
trial.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  discipline  or  obedience  to 
orders  yesterday,  particularly  at  such  times  when  obedience 
was  most  necessary.  Indeed  I  have  heard  to-day  of  a 
colonel  who  all  day  long  was  countermanding  his  general's 
orders,  and  who  boasted  that  his  men  would  obey  him 
sooner  than  their  general.  Consequently,  there  was  no 
turning  the  tide  when  flight  commenced,  the  men  were 
without  confidence  in  their  officers,  who,  finding  their  orders 
unavailing,  fled  side  by  side  with  them,  and  the  only  cry 
was  "  Sauve  qui  peut "  and  "the  Devil  take  the  hinder- 
most."  General  Schenck  and  his  aides  are  in  town,  but  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  Donn.  I  understand  he  is  safe 
and  shall  endeavor  to  see  him  this  evening.  I  tried  very 
hard  yesterday  to  get  out  to  the  battlefield,  but  though  a 
member  of  Congress  gave  me  a  pass  he  had  got  for  himself 
from  General  Scott,  I  failed  to  procure  any  kind  of  a  convey 
ance  and  it  was  too  far  to  walk.  We  have  had  a  drenching 
rain  all  day  which  makes  it  still  harder  for  the  men  to  rally. 


WASHINGTON,  July  24,  1861. 

I  spent  last  evening  with  Mr.  Chase  and  his  daughter. 
They  had  a  large  number  of  wounded  and  tired  soldiers 
sleeping  in  the  house  and  had  fed  more  than  a  hundred 
during  the  day.  They  were  all  low-spirited  at  the  ill-success 
of  our  arms.  I  met  there  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  Mr.  Horton  of 
Ohio,  and  Governor  Sprague  of  Rhode  Island,  who  led  his 
troops  in  the  engagement  of  Sunday,  and  who,  from  appear 
ances  is,  I  judge,  the  accepted  suitor  of  Miss  Katie. 

Meanwhile,  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  admin 
istration  as  a  whole  is  weak  and  that  it  has  undertaken  a 
contract  too  heavy  to  carry  out.  The  South  is  not  composed 


1 72  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  cowards  or  fools  or  men  without  money  or  means,  and  the 
North  will  find  before  they  get  through  that  they  are  not  so 
easily  conquered  as  they  had  supposed.  However  I  will  not 
discuss  politics  with  you  on  paper. 


WASHINGTON,  July  26,  1861. 

I  can  imagine  you  to  have  very  many  inconveniences  to 
put  up  with  as  you  are  now  placed,  but  you  must  remember 
it  is  only  for  a  season,  that  better  times  are  in  store  for  us, 
and  that  above  all  we  now  are  at  war  and  suffering  all  its 
horrors.  Contrast  your  and  your  children's  condition  with 
that  of  those  who  are  upon  or  near  the  battlefields  or  on  the 
line  of  march  of  the  armies  or  near  their  various  encamp 
ments.  You  read  of  these  things  in  the  newspapers  and 
your  blood  thrills  with  horror,  but  the  reading  is  nothing  to 
witnessing  with  your  own  senses  the  present  results  of  this 
sickening  fratricidal  strife.  The  scenes  I  will  not  pretend 
to  write  about  are  continually  before  my  eyes  and  I  con 
tinually  thank  God  that  you  and  the  children  are  in  what  I 
consider  a  place  of  refuge. 


WASHINGTON,  August  i,  1861. 

You  speak  of  Grandma's  having  been  much  affected  by 
the  account  I  gave  of  the  bringing  home  of  the  body  of 
young  McCook  by  his  father  to  the  house  adjoining  that  in 
which  I  live.  It  is  only  one  of  the  thousand  horrors,  I  have 
been  almost  an  eye  witness  of,  but  as  this  one  seems  to  have 
been  of  peculiar  interest  to  you,  I  give  for  Grandma's  ear  a 
detail  of  the  circumstances  as  given  me  by  one  who  saw 
them.  Shortly  after  the  main  body  of  the  army  was  in  re 
treat,  a  charge  was  made  by  the  enemy's  cavalry  upon  the 
hospital  grounds  at  Hlgin's  Ford,  and  those  around  the  well 
who  were  procuring  water  to  carry  to  the  wounded.  At  this 
time,  Charles  McCook,  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  of  Com 
pany  F,  2d  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteers,  the  youngest  son  in 


Letters  1 73 

the  army  of  Judge  Daniel  McCook,  was  also  at  the  well  when 
his  return  to  his  regiment  was  cut  off  by  a  section  of  the 
cavalry.  He  retreated  along  a  line  of  fence  and  discharged 
his  musket,  killing  one  of  the  enemy.  He  then  entered  an 
open  field  and  was  attacked  by  a  leader  of  the  troop,  who  had 
been  attracted  to  him  by  his  fatal  shot,  and  commanded  to 
surrender.  He  replied,  "No,  never;  never  to  a  rebel." 
He  manfully  kept  the  trooper  off  with  his  bayonet,  his  gun 
being  empty.  The  rebel  not  being  able  to  make  him  pris 
oner,  took  a  course  around  him  and  shot  him  in  the  back  ; 
then  approaching  the  wounded  boy,  he  cried,  ' '  Now,  damn 
you,  will  you  surrender?"  He  replied,  (<  No,  never,  no, 
no,  never."  The  father  of  young  McCook,  who  with  an 
other  gallant  son,  Edwin  S.  McCook,  had  been  busy  all  day 
carrying  the  wounded  from  the  battlefield  to  the  hospital, 
discovering  the  perilous  situation  of  his  brave  son,  called  out, 
"  Young  man,  surrender."  He  answered,  "  No,  never, 
never. ' '  The  trooper  then  began  striking  him  with  the  flat 
of  his  sword  over  the  shoulders  saying  at  the  same  time  he 
would  pierce  him  through.  His  father  seeing  that  his  boy 
was  wounded  insisted  upon  his  surrendering  as  he  had  done 
all  that  a  soldier  should  do.  The  noble  boy,  bleeding, 
unarmed,  and  almost  helpless,  then  surrendered.  His  father 
then  approached  the  commander  and  asked  for  the  prisoner 
to  place  him  in  the  hospital,  offering  to  hold  himself  re 
sponsible  for  his  safety  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  when  the  villain 
replied,  "  Damn  your  responsibility,  I  know  you."  After 
some  words,  the  wounded  prisoner  was  reluctantly  handed 
over  to  be  taken  to  the  hospital.  The  trooper  then  dashed 
around  the  hospital  to  assist  in  taking  off  Lieutenant  Wilson, 
of  the  2d  New  York  Regiment,  who  was  then  in  the  hands 
of  a  horseman.  This  dragoon  was  shot  by  a  stray  ball  as 
the  trooper  came  up,  and  Lieutenant  Wilson,  finding  himself 
free  from  his  captor,  drew  his  revolver  and  shot  his  pursuer 
in  the  neck,  killing  him  instantly. 

The  above  is  only  one  of  many  instances  of  individual 
bravery  and  of  the  bitter,  terrible  animosity  that  exists  be 
tween  the  opposing  forces.  And  yet  this  is  only  the  begin 
ning  of  what  I  feel  confident  will  be  a  long  and  bloody  war. 


1 74  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Now,  my  dear  wife,  I  want  you  to  be  of  good  heart.  I 
feel  as  if  I  ought  to  stay  here  a  little  longer  and  leave  no 
stone  unturned  in  the  procurement  of  some  place  of  some 
kind  under  the  government.  It  is  the  only  chance  in  these 
war  times.  I  am  sure  you  would  not  be  content  for  me  to 
rest  in  peace,  supine  and  idle,  while  others  are  gathering 
laurels  and  winning  fame. 


HEADQUARTERS  CAMP  DENNISON, 

Sept.  12,  1861. 

As  you  will  have  seen  in  the  papers  "  I  have  gone  and 
done  it."  Now  keep  a  stiff  upper  lip  and  sustain  and 
cheer  me  all  you  can,  and  by  being  cheerful  yourself  keep 
me  in  good  spirits.  I  have  an  arduous  and  responsible  duty 
to  perform,  but  by  God's  help  hope  to  get  through  with 
honor  to  myself.  Have  been  full  of  business  and  should 
have  written  to  you  yesterday,  my  first  day  in  camp,  which 
was  wet  and  muddy  enough,  I  assure  you.  We  shall  be  here 
for  some  weeks.  It  will  take  at  least  four  weeks  I  think  to 
organize  my  regiment. 

Direct  "  Lieut-Col.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith,  Commanding 
54th  Regt.,  Camp  Dennison.  The  weather  to-day  is  very 
fine,  the  camp  drying  up  very  fast. 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

Sept.  23,  1861. 

You  have  now  two  great  causes  of  anxiety,  your  grand 
father  and  your  husband.  His  life  or  death  you  cannot  in 
any  wise  control  but  must  accept  the  dispensation  of  Provi 
dence.  For  me  have  no  fear,  lay  aside  all  anxiety.  Life 
with  me  has  been  a  battle  from  my  youth.  I  am  familiar 
with  and  almost  rejoice  at  the  conflict.  I  have  been  pre 
served  from  terrible  dangers  that  have  beset  my  pathway. 
My  life  has  many  a  time  been  not  worth  a  straw.  I  have 
passed  through  flood  and  field.  Have  felt  the  knife  of  the 
assassin  and  almost  the  ball  of  the  would-be  murderer,  and 


Letters  175 

yet  I  am  alive  now  for  some  end.  No  battle,  no  exposure, 
no  responsibility  can  be  put  upon  me  now  greater  than  what 
I  have  passed  through.  I  may  fail  and  I  may  fall,  but  I 
have  full  faith  that  there  is  an  end  to  be  accomplished  by 
me.  Therefore  you  should  have  no  fear  for  me  now  that 
you  had  not  before  the  war  began,  and  the  same  faith  that 
the  good  God  will  preserve  me  in  the  field  or  on  the  war 
path,  who  had  me  in  his  holy  keeping  when  far  below  the 
surface  of  the  briny  deep.  I  know  this  is  poor  consolation 
to  offer  to  a  lonely  wife,  fainting  and  feeble  and  sore  beset  by 
troubles,  but  it  is  consolation,  nevertheless,  if  you  give  it  due 
consideration. 


HEADQUARTERS  54th  REGT.,  O.  V.  U.  S  A., 

CAMP  DENNISON,  OHIO,  October  6,  1861. 


I  do  not  know,  and  can  scarcely  form  a  conjecture,  as  to 
what  service  my  command  will  be  in  or  as  to  where  I  shall 
be  ordered  when  the  regiment  is  ready  for  the  field.  I  am 
now  waiting  for  an  equipment  and  arms.  Shall  very  soon 
have  men  enough  and  am  anxious  for  marching  orders  to 
any  point  away  from  Camp  Dennison.  I  have  been  made 
commandant  of  the  post  and  have  now  under  my  command, 
not  only  my  own  regiment  but  four  others,  with  artillerists, 
besides  the  control  of  the  post  hospital,  and  no  small  care  in 
itself,  as  you  will  imagine  when  I  tell  you  we  had  two  deaths 
last  night,  and  have  buried  twenty-five  men  since  I  have  been 
here.  If  I  only  had  subordinate  officers  upon  whom  I  could 
rely  these  responsibilities  would  only  stimulate  me  to  a 
pleasant  excitement.  Indeed  I  feel  always  a  pleasurable 
thrill  when  real  earnest  work  is  before  me — work  that  is  be 
fitting  a  man.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  I  am  popular 
with  the  command,  that  for  the  most  part  my  men  all  like 
me  ;  which  is  a  great  point  gained  in  the  army.  Yet  I  have 
been  pressed  with  many  and  grave  obstacles,  wholly  unfore 
seen  and  unprovided  for,  that  perhaps  hereafter  I  shall  have 
an  opportunity  to  explain  to  you.  You  may  be  surprised 


1 76  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

not  to  see  my  name  or  my  regiment  mentioned  in  what  is 
called  the  Military  Column  of  the  newspapers.  I  have  sedu 
lously  from  the  first  endeavored  to  keep  away  from  stupid 
newspaper  puffery  or  notice.  Time,  and  my  own  merits,  if 
I  have  any,  will  show  whether  I  have  judgment  and  military 
skill  enough  to  organize,  prepare,  and  drill  a  regiment  for  the 
field  and  make  it  serviceable  after  I  get  the  men  into  active 
service,  and  meanwhile  it  is  worse  than  absurd  to  attempt 
by  nionied  influences  or  otherwise  the  manufacture  of  a  fic 
titious  fame. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  R.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  DENNISON,  OHIO,  Nov.  i,  1861. 


Stephen1  is  to  the  fore  and  doing  well.  He  plays  many 
parts,  hostler,  body  servant,  cook,  groom,  laundress,  seam 
stress,  secretary,  steward,  and  boy  about  the  tent,  and  has 
taken  to  soldiering  with  such  a  vim  that  half  the  time  when 
I  want  him  I  find  him  standing  on  his  head  with  a  musket 
between  his  teeth,  swallowing  a  sword  or  plunging  a  bayonet 
into  a  zouave.  He  carries  arms  openly  and  above  board  to 
his  great  delight,  the  only  drawback  to  his  perfect  happi 
ness  being  the  disability  in  the  way  of  uniform — an  officer's, 
of  course — for  he  has  an  unearthly,  morbid,  and  uncontroll 
able  contempt  for  a  private  soldier,  whom  he  looks  upon  as 
little  better  than  a  dog. 

I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  the  Adjutant- General 
notifying  me  that  the  Governor  of  Ohio  has  promoted  me  to 
the  colonelcy,  so  I  suppose  I  am  a  step  higher  in  the  esti 
mation  of  somebody.  One  thing  is  certain,  my  boys  and  I 
have  got  as  bloody  a  set  of  preaching,  praying,  stealing, 
fighting,  riproaring  zouaves  as  the  war  turns  out.  .  .  . 
You  would  laugh  sometimes  if  you  were  here  to  listen  to 
the  rascals  yelling  ...  for  the  "  old  Colonel,"  as  they 
call  me. 


1  His  body  servant. 


Letters 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S-  A., 

CAMP  DENNISON,  OHIO,  Dec.  14,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHKR  : 


It  will  not  be  so  difficult  for  me  to  get  my  regiment  into 
the  field  as  you  imagine,  after  they  shall  be  in  readiness  to 
go,  which  I  suppose  will  be  the  case  in  a  few  days.  It  is  not 
to  be  regretted  that  we  have  not  been  upon  the  march  before 
as  we  should  not  have  been  in  active  service,  but  merely 
passed  from  one  camp  to  another  with  the  merest  skirmish 
ing  to  amuse  us  ;  meanwhile  it  will  be  the  better  drilled. 

Your  political  views  are  as  usual  sound,  but  I  much  be 
lieve  there  will  be  warm  work  in  the  South  and  in  Kentucky. 
The  blood  of  our  people  is  fairly  up  and  neither  side  will  be 
satisfied  without  a  battle.  However  all  this  is  in  the  future 
and  gives  me  no  concern.  My  only  anxiety  now  is  to  get  my 
men  in  marching  trim  and  march  and  keep  on  marching  for 
the  balance  of  my  days. 

I  reckon  the  sword  will  come  from  Boston  in  due  season. 
William  Dehon  wrote  me  that  one  was  ordered  and  would 
be  forwarded  to  me  sometime  in  December. 

We  too  have  lovely  weather,  balmy  as  the  first  of  June, 
and  oh,  mother,  as  I  look  out  in  the  early  morning  or  stand 
alone  at  sunset  upon  some  hillside,  I  too  miss  the  gentle  smile, 
the  faded  form  ;  everything  is  here  to  remind  me  of  him. J  I 
dare  not  write  of  him.  I  loved  him  very  dearly,  more  than 
I  have  loved  anybody  in  the  world,  I  believe,  except  perhaps 
you.  I  am  sure  I  loved  him  much  more  than  I  have  ever 
loved  my  own  children — but  I  must  check  these  rising  feel 
ings.  I  cannot  permit  myself  to  dwell  upon  those  who  have 
gone.  I  turn  to  this  band  of  men  about  me,  a  large  family 
who  look  to  me  for  guidance,  support,  and  succor — every 
thing  is  abandoned.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  cut  loose  from  the 
world  or  all  that  part  of  it  that  has  gone  before. 

1  His  brother,  Charles  W.  G.  Smith,  who  died  in  New  York  as  Secre 
tary  of  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  May,  1861,  aged  twenty  years. 


1 78  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  DENNISON,  January  n,  1862. 

My  name  in  the  service  and  elsewhere  is  unfortunate. 
There  are  four  Colonels  Smith  in  Ohio  alone  ;  one  of  them 
is  Kirby  Smith,  a  name  by  which  I  am  not  unfrequently 
known,  and  by  the  by,  I  notice  that  there  is  one  by  that 
name  in  the  rebel  army. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  DENNISON,  January  26,  1862. 

To-day  the  sword  is  received,  and  a  very  elegant  and 
superior  sword  it  is,  I  assure  you,  with  its  double  scabbard 
and  sword-belt  all  complete,  well  worth y  of  the  donors.1  My 
only  prayer  now  is  that  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  may  be  en 
abled  so  to  use  it  that  they  may  not  believe  the  gift  ill-be 
stowed.  I  shall  acknowledge  the  favor  to-morrow  if  my  time 
is  not  too  much  cut  up.  I  have  my  head,  hands,  and  heart 
full  now  and  find  every  moment  precious  to  me. 

You  ask  me  to  publish  the  correspondence  between  the 
kind  friends  who  have  presented  me  with  the  splendid  sword 
and  myself.  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  publish  now  the  com 
pliments  through  the  daily  papers.  I  would  prefer,  unless 
they  preferred  the  other  course,  to  wait  until  I  had  accom 
plished  something  that  would  be  deemed  worthy  of  the 
honor.  One  of  my  former  associates  at  the  Cincinnati  Bar, 
who  has  taken  the  field,  Colonel  McCook,  has  recently  at 
the  battle  of  Fishing  Creek,  near  Somerset,  won  laurels. 
Several  Cincinnatians  distinguished  themselves,  some  were 
killed,  and  many  were  wounded.  I  do  not  like,  or  rather 
I  do  not  think  it  quite  in  good  taste  to  publish  at  this  time, 
that  which  it  would  have  been  quite  proper  and  of  immense 
benefit  to  me  and  my  regiment  to  have  published  a  month 
or  six  weeks  ago.  I  have  not  fully  made  up  my  mind,  how 
ever,  in  regard  to  the  matter,  and  whatever  I  do,  you  shall 
be  at  once  apprised  of. 

1  Presented  by  friends  in  Massachusetts. 


Letters 


179 


I  have  the  honor  to  command  a  regiment  composed  of  as 
fine  a  body  of  men  as  perhaps  were  ever  got  together,  and, 
if  there  is  faith  in  human  nature,  they  are  all  devoted  to  me. 
I  feel  sometimes,  barring  the  deeds,  like  a  hero  of  romance. 
I  have  three  fine  horses ;  one  of  them  a  stallion,  that  nobody 
can  back  or  manage  but  myself;  the  very  realization  of  all  I 
ever  hoped  for  in  a  horse,  perfect  in  size,  in  symmetry  of 
form,  in  color,  in  carriage,  in  speed,  and  in  gait.  His  har 
ness  is  complete.  My  pistols  are  the  best  of  Colt's  revol 
vers,  with  one  of  which  I  cut  a  card  one  inch  on  the  line 
below  the  centre  at  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  dis 
tance  a  few  days  ago.  I  govern  at  despotic  will  nearly  a 
thousand  men,  each  one  of  whom  leaps  with  alacrity  to  per 
form  my  bidding,  and  some,  perhaps  many,  of  whom  would 
count  it  small  cost  to  spill  his  blood  for  me.  A  soldier  is 
always  guarding  the  door  of  my  tent,  a  line  of  soldiers  al 
ways  surrounds  it,  all  my  individual  wants  are  supplied,  the 
most  of  my  wishes  anticipated.  I  have  recruited  from  all 
over  the  State,  and  all  over  the  State  I  have  friends,  particu 
larly  among  the  women  who  are  deluging  me  with  presents 
for  the  regiment.  The  other  day  I  received  boxes  containing 
two  hundred  exceedingly  fine  country  woven  blankets,  with 
an  equal  number  of  flannel  shirts,  flannel  drawers,  pairs  of 
socks  and  mittens  from  the  ladies  of  Fayette  County.  Just 
afterwards  the  ladies  of  Preble  County  sent  an  immense 
quantity  of  blankets,  socks,  etc.  The  day  before  yesterday 
the  ladies  of  Clifton  sent  some  two  dozen  pillows,  with  cases, 
a  number  of  sheets,  shirts,  old  linen,  etc.,  for  hospital  pur 
poses,  and  to-day  a  large  quantity  of  coverlids,  pillows,  pre 
served  and  canned  fruits,  etc. ,  were  sent  down  for  the  hospital. 
Just  now  as  I  am  writing  a  man  has  come  in  with  a  dozen 
or  two  fresh  eggs,  each  one  carefully  WTapped  in  paper,  with 
a  can  of  peaches,  a  bottle  of  vinegar,  and  a  jar  of  tomatoes 
for  the  Colonel.  Scarce  a  day  passes  that  they  don't  send 
me  chickens  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Now,  on  the  other 
side,  I  have  a  terrible  responsibility,  the  mothers  and  fathers, 
sisters  and  wives,  sweethearts,  friends,  and  relations  of  all 
these  brave  boys  look  to  me  for  their  weal  or  woe.  If  I  make 
a  mistake  by  which  human  life  is  needlessly  sacrificed,  how 


180  Thomas  Kiiby  Smith 

terrible  is  the  penalty  !  For  this  reason  I  am  cautious. 
.  .  .  I  won't  say  I  fear,  for  I  hate  the  word  ;  I  don't  fear 
anything,  man  or  devil,  but  I  don't  choose  to  be  in  advance 
of  myself— my  hour  has  not  yet  come.  I  won't  ask  praise 
until  I  have  earned  it.  I  am  very  glad  my  friends  have  sent 
me  this  sword.  It  is  more  gratifying  to  my  feelings  than  I 
can  express  to  you,  and  I  wish  you  would  take  occasion  to 
write  to  each  one  of  them,  a  list  of  the  names  of  whom  I  will 
give  you,  your  own  personal  recognition  of  the  claim  they 
have  to  your  gratitude  for  the  kindness  and  honor  they  have 
done  your  son. 

You  say  you  fear  I  am  passing  a  gloomy  winter  in  camp. 
I  wish  you  could  see  me  at  this  moment  and  the  interior  of 
the  hut  I  live  in.  It  is  to  me  a  paradise  of  delight.  Do  you 
recollect  the  old  kitchen  at  the  farm,  and  the  saddles  and 
bridles,  bits  and  spurs  that  garnished  the  walls.  View  me  now 
only  more  so  ;  pistols  and  swords,  bridles  and  belts,  caps  and 
gauntlets,  foils  and  uniforms,  a  rough  pine  cupboard  with  a 
bottle  of  whiskey  and  a  jug  of  wrater,  pipes,  a  table  covered 
with  a  blanket,  and  that  thoroughly  littered,  letters  an 
swered  and  unanswered,  mostly  the  latter  ;  Hardee  &  Scott, 
the  Army  Regulations,  and  the  Lord  knows  what.  Buffalo 
robes  to  sleep  on,  and  horse  rugs,  red,  gray,  and  blue 
blankets  for  cover  ;  lie  down  when  I  please,  get  up  when  I 
please,  breakfast  from  eight  till  eleven,  dinner  from  twelve 
to  four,  for  no  heed  do  I  pay  to  special  orders  in  the  eating 
line.  I  make  the  men  eat  to  the  tap  of  the  drum,  but  I  eat 
when  I  please.  No  woman  to  bother  me,  save  the  country 
maidens  who  come  to  camp  to  see  the  soldiers,  and  they  not 
much.  Nary  baby  to  keep  awake  o'  nights.  The  fact  is, 
camp  life  to  a  field-officer  is  a  bachelor's  paradise. 


ON  BOARD  STEAMER  FANNIE  MCBURNIE, 

NEAR  LOUISVILLE,  Feb.  18,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  was  very  much  disappointed  yesterday  at  being  prevented 
from  bidding  you  and  the  dear  little  ones  "  good-bye."  My 
heart  is  quite  full  now,  and  I  hardly  dare  trust  myself  to 


COLONEL   THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH, 

CAMP  DENNISON,    1862. 


Letters  1 8 1 

write.  My  command  was  ordered  by  telegraphic  despatch. 
I  got  the  regiment  in  the  cars  promptly  and  in  good  order, 
was  the  last  man  to  embark,  and  from  my  anxiety  to  see 
that  none  was  left,  was  left  myself.  This  threw  me  back 
one  hour  and  a  half.  At  Cincinnati  I  was  compelled  to  take 
command  of  two  steamboats,  two  being  required  for  the 
transportation  of  the  regiment.  We  were  compelled  in  order 
to  preserve  discipline  to  tie  one  of  them  to  the  Kentucky 
shore,  and  I  was  all  the  afternoon  crossing  the  river  in  a 
skiff  or  yawl  between  the  two  boats.  I  did  not  dare  at  any 
time  to  leave  the  command  long  enough  to  come  to  you. 
You  must  keep  up  a  brave  heart,  dear  wife,  I  shall  soon 
come  back.  Meanwhile,  I  am  sure  I  have  some  friends  in 
Cincinnati  who  will  care  for  you. 

I  am  writing  now  in  a  hurry,  surrounded  by  a  legion  of 
officers  and  soldiers.  I  will  write  more  at  length  from  Padu- 
cah.  I  am  seizing  now  the  services  of  a  pilot  going  ashore. 
M.y  troops  are  all  in  good  health  and  spirits.  My  own 
health  is  good.  God  bless  and  preserve  you. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  NEAR  PADUCAH,  KY.,  February  21,  1862. 

I  arrived  safely  with  my  regiment  yesterday  morning,  and 
am  now  encamped  at  a  point  about  a  mile  and  a  half  west 
of  Paducah.  Our  voyage  down  the  river  was  made  safely 
and  without  accident.  I  think  it  a  little  doubtful  whether 
you  received  my  hurried  letter  written  during  the  voyage, 
and  therefore  am  disposed  to  recapitulate,  even  at  the  risk 
of  giving  you  stale  news,  the  circumstances  of  our  departure 
from  Camp  Dennison.  As  I  told  you  in  one  of  our  conversa 
tions  I  have  considered  marching  orders  as  being  near  at 
hand  for  some  weeks,  and  so  endeavored  to  arrange  my  regi 
mental  matters  that  I  should  not  be  taken  unawares,  but  I 
hardly  expected  them  to  come  as  they  did,  by  telegraph,  and 
on  Sunday.  I  was  very  strongly  tempted  to  pass  that  Sun 
day  with  you.  Camp  had  become  intensely  disagreeable,  the 
weather  was  cold,  inclement,  and  the  ground  in  a  horrible 


1 82  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

condition,  and  I  thought  how  very  comfortable  it  would  be 
to  take  a  good  Sunday  dinner  with  you  and  have  a  nap 
afterwards  on  the  lounge  upstairs,  enveloped  in  my  new 
dressing  gown,  you  were  so  good  as  to  toil  over  for  me,  but 
again  I  thought  if  any  accident  were  to  occur  to  the  regi 
ment  if  I  were  away,  that  I  would  never  forgive  myself  or  be 
forgiven  by  my  superior  officers,  and  that  at  the  present  time 
I  owed  my  whole  time,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  to  my  country  ; 
therefore  I  resisted  all  the  temptations  and  blandishments 
of  home,  and  well  it  was  that  I  did  so.  Oh  !  how  bitterly 
have  some  of  my  officers  and  even  privates  regretted  that 
they  absented  themselves,  and  at  what  terrible  cost  will  they 
be  to  get  to  their  regiment.  I  had  gone  through  the  duties 
of  the  day,  which  for  Sunday  in  camp,  or  rather  garrison, 
consists  of  an  inspection  of  the  barracks  and  soldiers  with 
their  arms  and  accoutrements,  and  was  finishing  my  tour  of 
the  hospital  when  up  rode  an  adjutant,  his  horse  in  a  foam, 
and  hurriedly  handing  me  a  paper,  asked  me  when  I  could 
be  ready  to  march.  I  looked  at  my  watch,  coolly  took  his 
paper,  which  was  a  telegraphic  despatch  or  order,  and  re 
plied:  "  In  fifteen  minutes."  He  looked  at  me  incredu 
lously  and  was  about  to  ride  off.  I  called  to  him,  ' '  Stop, 
Sir,  I  will  show  you  my  troops  in  marching  order  within 
fifteen  minutes,  and  leave  it  to  you  to  report  the  fact." 
Within  ten  minutes  from  that  time  my  soldiers  were  in  line 
with  blankets  rolled  and  knapsacks  packed,  ready  to  march 
a  thousand  miles.  The  Adjutant,  an  old  English  soldier, 
by  the  bye,  who  was  in  the  Crimean  war  and  has  been  to 
India  with  troops,  looked  on  in  astonishment.  But  cars 
could  not  be  put  upon  the  railroad  before  nine  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  and  all  night  I  kept  the  men  up  cooking 
rations  for  three  days.  I  sat  up  all  night  myself,  and,  of 
course,  was  about  bright  and  early  in  the  morning.  My 
boys  were  all  eager  for  the  start.  I  had  but  one  craven 
hound  who  deserted  me,  and  he,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was 
from  .  .  .  His  name  was  .  .  .  and  he  must  be 
published  to  the  world  as  a  coward  and  a  perjured  liar.  At 
nine  o'clock  as  I  sat  on  horseback  at  the  head  of  the  column 
with  my  staff  about  me,  an  orderly  rode  over  to  say  that  the 


Letters  183 

cars  would  be  ready  by  the  time  that  I  had  marched  to  the 
depot.  The  cavalry  regiment  had  sent  their  band  and  an  es 
cort,  and  with  my  own  band  we  made  fine  music,  and  I  flatter 
myself  a  gallant  appearance.  At  the  depot  we  were  met  by 
Colonel  Burnett  of  the  artillery  with  his  band,  and  every  offi 
cer  of  distinction  at  camp  was  there  to  bid  me  farewell.  They 
gave  me  a  good  send-off.  Few  troops  have  left  Camp  Den- 
nison  under  pleasanter  auspices,  and  sooth  to  say  I  was 
loath  to  leave  the  old  camp  after  all,  for  there  I  have  spent 
some  pleasant  days  "  under  the  greenwood  tree,  and  in 
winter  and  rough  weather."  I  was  so  careful  to  get  the 
troops  on  board  and  to  see  the  last  man  on,  that  I  got  left 
myself  and  was  somewhat  thrown  out  of  my  calculations. 
However  it  ended  well  enough,  for  my  farewell  to  you  and 
the  dear  children  would  have  been  heartbreaking  all  round, 
and  perhaps  wholly  unnerved  me.  As  usual  in  moments 
of  great  excitement  with  me,  I  had  lost  my  appetite,  and  did 
not  want  a  great  deal  to  set  me  back  at  a  time  when  I  re 
quired  all  my  faculties  at  hand.  It  is  just  as  bad  to  march 
troops  from  home  the  first  time  they  leave  their  homes  as  to 
march  them  in  battle  to  the  charge.  One  of  my  companies 
was  from  Cincinnati,  and  it  was  almost  heartbreaking  to  see 
the  leavetakings  between  mother  and  son,  husband  and  wife, 
sivSter  and  brother.  All  classes  were  represented,  and  I  was 
compelled  to  put  a  stop  to  the  terrible  scenes  mingled  with 
considerable  drunkenness  (for  the  soldiers  had  so  many 
friends  that  their  canteens  were  well  filled  and  continually 
replenished  with  whiskey)  by  ordering  the  captain  of  the 
boat  of  which  I  took  charge  in  person  to  run  her  over  to  the 
Kentucky  shore.  My  whole  time  was  taken  up  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  I  tried  in  vain  for  an  opportunity  to  come  to 
you.  We  sailed  down  the  river  without  adventure  worth 
relating,  save  that  our  soldiers  fought  terribly  among  each 
other,  at  least  those  who  were  drunk,  and  we  lost  one  man 
by  drowning,  and  another  whose  skull  was  fractured  acciden 
tally  by  a  shovel.  I  arrived  at  Paducah  at  about  six  o'clock 
on  the  evening  of  Wednesday  the  igth  inst.  As  soon  as  the 
boat  landed  and  before  my  report  was  written,  I  was  waited 
upon  by  General  Sherman,  who  is  the  commandant  of  this 


1 84  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

post,  and  by  him  shown  on  board  a  steamer  lying  a  little 
farther  down  stream  from  our  boat,  which  was  thoroughly 
stowed,  rammed,  packed,  and  crowded  with  prisoners  from 
the  enemy,  captured  at  Fort  Donaldson,  together  with  five 
thousand  stand  of  arms.  The  prisoners  were  of  high  and 
low  degree.  I  was  introduced  to  one  or  two  colonels  and 
several  other  officers.  The  men,  in  my  judgment,  do  not 
well  compare  with  ours.  I  think  we  can  always  whip  them 
about  three  to  five.  They  fought  magnificently,  however, 
at  Fort  Donaldson,  and  lost  probably  on  their  side  about 
three  thousand  killed  and  wounded.  On  our  side  there  were 
thirteen  hundred  wounded  and  five  hundred  killed.  We 
took  thirteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  prison 
ers — these  figures  are  reliable.  The  hospitals  here  are 
perfect  charnel  houses.  .  .  . 

When  General  Sherman  had  got  through  his  business 
with  me  and  had  offered  the  hospitalities  of  his  headquarters, 
I  returned  to  the  boats.  The  Fannie  McBurnie,  the  one  in 
which  I  sailed,  arrived  first,  and  while  I  was  inspecting  the 
prisoners  and  arms,  the  Ben  Franklin,  the  boat  that  had  my 
other  detachments,  arrived.  I  was  engaged  during  the 
night  in  preparing  for  disembarkation  and  at  seven  o'clock 
the  next  morning  had  my  troops,  horses,  tents,  supplies  all 
off;  at  eight  o'clock  marched  to  General  Sherman's  head 
quarters,  one  of  the  finest  regiments,  as  he  told  Colonel 
Stuart  in  my  hearing,  he  had  ever  seen.  The  morning  was 
fine  and  the  boys  looked  splendidly.  We  are  now,  as  I  told 
you,  encamped  at  a  point  about  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the 
city  of  Paducah,  containing  some  ten  thousand  inhabitants. 
My  troops  are  well  bestowed  in  tents,  and  I  have  taken  to 
myself  a  house  of  some  twelve  or  fifteen  rooms  for  my  head 
quarters..  It  was  occupied,  I  believe,  by  a  secessionist,  and 
has  fine  grounds,  stables,  etc. ,  about  it.  I  am  very  much  more 
comfortable  than  at  Camp  Dennison.  My  regiment  has  the 
post  of  honor,  and  with  a  battery  of  artillery  guard  the  en 
campment.  There  are  a  great  many  troops  here.  I  cannot 
say  nearly  how  many,  for  I  have  not  information.  I  should 
think  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand.  General  Halleck,  under 
whose  command  my  regiment  is  placed,  is  concentrating 


Letters  1 8  5 


vast  forces  here.  He  anticipates  a  forward  movement.  We 
are  ordered  to  hold  ourselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a 
moment's  notice. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF.  U.  S.  A., 

March  2,  1862. 

As  you  are  perhaps  aware,  I  marched  from  Ohio  without 
arms,  having  condemned  those  which  were  furnished  us  from 
the  State,  and  am  now  waiting  arms  from  the  arsenal  at  St. 
I^ouis,  which  I  expected  upon  my  arrival  ;  these  we  still 
expect  from  day  to  day,  and  upon  their  reception  will  be  put 
upon  the  march  instantly.  I  do  not  know  certainly,  but 
have  reason  to  believe  our  destination  is  the  South — perhaps 
New  Orleans,  perhaps  Texas.  As  soon  as  we  move  and  as 
soon  as  I  am  properly  advised  of  our  destination,  you  shall 
be  apprised.  You  must  not  permit  yourself  for  one  moment 
to  be  uneasy  about  me.  Remember,  as  I  have  frequently 
told  you,  I  have  faced  death  in  all  its  forms,  and  am  yet  un 
scathed  ;  that  the  same  watchful  eye  of  Providence  is  upon 
me  now,  and  will  be  upon  me  hereafter,  that  has  scanned 
every  good  and  every  ill  attending  me  from  my  cradle  up. 
That  if  my  life  is  worth  preserving  for  any  useful  purpose, 
the  God  who  gave  will  not  take  it  back  till  its  full  course  is 
run.  I  am  at  this  moment  writing  in  the  midst  of  a  violent 
thunderstorm  which  rocks  and  shakes  the  house  I  am  sitting 
in.  Nature  is  convulsed  and  the  elemental  war  is  raging 
round  me.  The  petty  warfare  of  man  is  as  nothing  com 
pared  to  this.  Our  battles  sink  into  insignificance.  What 
is  the  rattling  of  musketry  or  the  roar  of  cannon  to  the  peal 
ing  reverberations  from  the  thunder  cloud  ;  or  the  glittering 
bayonet  or  whistling  sword  to  the  scathing  bolt  from  heaven 
that  consumes  quicker  than  thought  can  flash  through  the 
brain  of  man  ?  Yet  through  this  I  sit  calm  and  unconcerned, 
trusting  as  the  child  that  nestles  upon  your  lap.  Why  then 
should  I  fear  what  man  can  do  ?  Why  should  you  be  appre 
hensive  for  me  ?  As  I  always  write,  keep  up  a  brave  heart, 
dear  wife.  I  cannot  ask  3^ou  not  to  be  anxious,  for  that 
would  be  to  ask  you  to  lay  aside  that  love  I  so  dearly  cher- 


1 86  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ish.  I  know  that  anxiety  and  fear  and  anguish  and  weak 
ness  are  inseparable  from  the  sweet  affection  you  bear  for 
me,  that  all  my  philosophy  will  not  cause  your  heart  to  abate 
one  throb  of  its  agony  of  apprehension.  I  only  ask  you  to 
pray  for  strength,  and  strength  will  be  given  you.  Do  not 
permit  your  mind  to  dwell  upon  sorrows  that  may  never 
come,  but  rather  hope  and  rejoice  in  bright  anticipations  of 
a  glowing  future.  Believe  that  I  shall  come  back  with 
bright  honor,  that  at  the  worst  if  I  fall,  I  shall  leave  to  the 
dear  children  we  both  love  so  dearly  the  priceless  heritage 
of  a  patriot's  name.  Sad  hearts  are  mourning  all  over  the 
desolated  land.  Tears  are  raining  from  scores  of  thousands 
of  eyes  this  blessed  Sunday.  Brave  hearts  are  swelling  and 
yearning  with  affection  for  the  loved  ones  at  home  through 
out  the  ranks  of  five  hundred  thousand  men.  I  strive  to 
give  you  cheer.  God  help  me,  I  am  called  upon  to  cheer 
almost  a  thousand  who  look  to  me  for  counsel.  Again,  pray 
for  strength  for  yourself,  and  that  strength  may  be  given 
you  to  comfort  others  in  affliction. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  I.  U.  S.  A., 

ENCAMPMENT  NEAR  PADUCAH,  KY.,  March  4,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  HELEN  : 

You  must  not  any  of  you  be  alarmed  for  my  personal 
safety.  I  am  just  as  well  cared  for  as  if  I  was  by  your  side 
in  New  York,  the  same  good  God  is  above  me  here  as  there. 
My  health  is  excellent,  I  am  only  troubled  for  the  loved 
ones  at  home.  In  one  of  your  letters  to  Lizzie  3rou  speak  of 
having  heard  of  my  regiment  from  Washington.  I  have 
never  permitted  it  to  be  puffed  through  the  newspapers,  and 
have  only  wanted  it  to  win  its  laurels  honestly  ;  but  I  assure 
you  that  it  is  the  finest  and  best  drilled  regiment  that  ever 
left  Ohio,  and  has  been  complimented  by  General  Sherman, 
the  Commandant  of  the  Post,  as  the  best  regiment  in  the 
division  here,  some  fourteen  thousand  strong.  My  men  have 
been  carefully  selected  for  the  Zouave  drill — for  I  suppose 
that  you  are  aware  that  it  is  a  Zouave  regiment — have  been 


Letters  187 

picked  out  for  their  youth  and  physical  strength  and  activity, 
and  I  assure  you  in  its  ranks  may  be  found  some  of  the  most 
splendid  specimens  of  manly  beauty.  Their  uniform  is  very 
handsome,  though  not  as  fantastic  as  the  Zouaves  you  have 
seen  about  New  York.  They  have  dark-blue  jackets,  reach 
ing  to  the  hips,  trimmed  with  red  ;  light  blue  trousers  with 
red  stripes  down  the  sides,  and  white  gaiters,  reaching  some 
three  inches  above  the  ankle.  Gray  felt  hats,  low-crowned, 
and  looped  at  the  side  with  bright  red  tassels  ;  some  of  them 
wear  very  fancy  hats  or  caps,  without  vizor  or  brim,  which 
with  the  streaming  tassel  makes  them  very  picturesque. 
Their  overcoats  are  bright  indigo  blue,  with  large  capes. 
They  are  a  splendid,  brave,  handsome  set  of  fellows.  My 
officers  are  certainly  very  handsome  men,  all  of  them,  and 
among  them  men  of  fine  talent,  almost  all  accomplished  as 
amateurs  in  music,  drawing,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
Some  of  them  are  good  poets.  We  often  have  Shakesperian 
readings.  I  send  an  impromptu  got  off  the  other  night  by 
one  of  the  lieutenants.  ...  A  society  to  which  he  be 
longed  in  college  was  called  the  "  Owl,"  and  he  was  re 
quested  to  deliver  a  poem.  Upon  the  spur  of  the  moment  he 
wrote  that  which  I  enclose  and  offer  as  a  fair  sample  of  the 
talent  under  my  command. 

My  regiment  is  splendidly  armed  with  the  Vincennes  rifle, 
and  the  troops  are  in  fine  spirits.  Still  there  are  troubles 
and  trials  and  bitter  vexations  attendant  upon  a  command 
which  no  one  but  he  who  has  been  through,  can  appreciate 
or  estimate.  Immense  responsibility,  gross  ingratitude,  no 
thanks  for  almost  superhuman  efforts,  and  the  constant  neces 
sity  for  coolness,  patience,  forbearance,  and  the  cultivation  of 
a  skin  as  thick  as  that  of  a  rhinoceros.  .  .  . 

You  will  expect  me  to  write  you  some  war  news  ;  that  I 
cannot  do,  for  it  is  prohibited.  I  can  tell  you  that  I  sent  a 
detachment  from  my  regiment  to  co-operate  with  a  detach 
ment  from  another  command  to  occupy  Columbus  ;  and  I 
can  tell  you  that  one  of  my  lieutenants  who  was  detailed  on 
secret  service  has  just  returned  from  Forts  Henry  and  Don 
aldson.  He  corroborates  the  published  accounts  of  the  fight 
at  Donaldson,  which  was  brilliant.  Our  troops  fought  under 


1 88  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

a  most  terrific  hail  of  shot  and  shell  ;  some  five  thousand  on 
both  sides  were  killed  and  wounded.  You  learn  all  these 
things  through  the  newspapers,  however,  which  relate  them 
much  better  than  I  can. 

The  weather  at  this  point  is  very  changeable.  We  have 
had  some  lovely  spring-like  days,  but  to-day  is  bitterly  cold, 
and  yesterday  we  had  snow  and  rain.  March  is  a  disagree 
able  month,  I  believe  everywhere.  It  has  always  been  dis 
agreeable  to  me,  wherever  I  have  been. 

Paducah  was,  before  it  became  the  seat  of  war,  a  beautiful 
town  of  some  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  among  wrhom  was  a 
vast  deal  of  wealth,  exhibited  in  their  fine  mansions  and 
sumptuous  furniture.  Very  many  of  the  private  dwellings, 
luxurious  in  their  appointments,  the  Court  House,  and 
other  public  buildings,  have  been  taken  for  the  use  of  the 
army.  Elegant  shade  trees  have  been  or  are  being  cut 
down  for  fuel  ;  gardens  and  lawns  laid  waste  ;  beautiful 
palings  torn  down,  and  devastation  made  the  order  of  the 
day.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  who  have  been  able  to  do  so 
have  gone  away.  The  character  of  the  people  is  decidedly 
1 '  Secesh. ' '  The  town  is,  of  course,  under  martial  law,  civil 
courts  for  the  present  abolished,  and  no  citizen  can  come  or 
go  without  a  pass  from  the  Provost  Marshal.  A  company  is 
detailed  from  my  regiment  each  day,  whose  duty  it  is,  in 
connection  with  other  forces,  to  guard  all  the  points  and 
lines  of  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from  the  town,  with  orders 
to  guard  and  search  suspicious  persons.  All  this  gives  one 
a  full  realization  of  war,  which  you  in  the  Eastern  cities 
have  not  yet  had  brought  home  to  you,  and  which  I  trust 
you  may  never  see. 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

ENCAMPED  NEAR  PADUCAH,  KY.,  March  7,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

We  are  under  marching  orders,  and  should  have  left  for 
Savannah,  up  the  Tennessee  River,  yesterday.  If  you  look 
on  the  map,  you  will  discover  the  point  near  the  straight 
line  between  Tennessee  and  Alabama.  The  transport 


Letters  189 

steamers  did  not  arrive,  as  we  expected,  yesterday,  and  we 
shall  embark  to-day.  My  troops  are  well  armed  and  well 
equipped  and  in  good  spirits.  My  own  health  is  excellent. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 
ON  BOARD  STEAMER  PRAIRIE  ROSE, 

NEAR  SAVANNAH,  TENNESSEE,  March  13,  1862. 

Within  a  few  hours  we  shall  probably  be  in  battle.  The 
last  task  I  have  to  perform  is  to  write  to  you  and  our  dear 
mother.  I  have  but  little  to  say  now  that  I  have  not  ex 
pressed  in  former  letters  or  in  my  conversations  with  you. 
I  shall  hope  when  this  conflict  is  over  to  return  to  you  ;  if 
by  any  untoward  accident  I  should  be  unable  to,  I  have 
only  to  ask  of  you  to  comfort  mother  in  her  declining  years. 
An  accident  to  me  may  prove  to  her  a  greater  shock  than 
she  can  bear.  Of  her  I  shall  ask  to  comfort  you  who  will 
need  comfort  and  consolation.  To  our  dear  little  children  I 
have  little  to  give  save  love  and  prayers.  Keep  their 
memory  with  love  constantly  alive  for  their  father.  The 
world  will  not  speak  well  of  him,  for  he  has  found  in  it 
more  enemies  than  friends,  and  his  pathway  has  not  been 
smooth.  The  annoyances  of  life  have  prevented  him  from 
winning  all  their  love.  He  has  been  harsh  where  he  should 
have  been  kind.  This  they  cannot  now  understand,  but  in 
after  years  they  may.  My  only  anxiety  is  to  leave  for  them 
a  name  they  may  be  proud  of.  The  little  valuables  at  Mr. 
Burt's,  the  banker's,  are  subject  to  your  order  ;  distribute 
them  as  you  and  mother  think  fit.  My  sword  give  to 
Walter;  if  Theodore  survives  him,  let  him  have  it.  If  both 
pass  away,  then  Adrian.  It  is  the  only  heirloom  I  care  to 
preserve  to  the  family.  It  will  be  to  my  boys,  if  they  live, 
a  memento  of  my  life  and  the  times  in  which  we  live.  So 
much  for  business — and  I  pray  you  do  not  suppose  that  I 
entertain  anything  but  bright  anticipations  of  a  glowing 
future.  My  heart  is  buoyant.  My  only  anxiety  is  for  my 
regiment,  and  that  it  may  be  taken  into  battle  in  due  form 
and  with  a  strict  adherence  to  military  rule.  I  may  be  mis 
taken,  but  my  present  impression  is  that  the  battle  we  are 


i  go  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

about  to  fight  will  be  the  test  and  turning-point  ol  this  war. 
If  we  succeed,  negotiations  will  follow  ;  if  not,  neither  you 
nor  I  will  see  the  end  of  this  unhappy  controversy.  I  think 
mine  is  a  fighting  regiment.  I  may  be  deceived  or  place  my 
hopes  too  high.  I  pray  to  God  I  may  not  disgrace  the  regi 
ment  with  me.  I  shall  do  my  best,  and  leave  the  rest  with 
the  God  of  Battles. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

20  BRIGADE,  IST  Drv.,  TENNESSEE  EXPEDITION, 
ENCAMPED  NEAR  PITTSBURGH,  TENN.,  March  21,  1862. 

You  will  have  been  made  very  anxious  about  me  by  the 
one  or  two  letters  I  regretted  writing  immediately  after  they 
were  sent  ;  but  we  had  every  hope  of  an  engagement  with 
the  enemy,  every  reason  to  expect  it  would  come  off  within 
a  few  hours,  and  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment  I  deemed 
it  my  duty  to  write  you  just  then.  But  the  enemy  retires  as 
we  advance,  and  up  to  this  time  refuse  to  give  us  a  battle. 
Since  writing  last  we  have  encamped  and  marched  in  Ala 
bama  and  Mississippi,  and  are  now  encamped  within  a  few 
miles  of  Pittsburgh,  a  point  on  the  Tennessee  River,  above 
Savannah.  Our  camp  is  high,  and  I  hope  will  prove 
healthy.  The  First  Division,  under  General  Sherman,  has 
the  advance,  and  the  Second  Brigade  has  the  advance  of  the 
Divison.  I  am  second  in  command  in  the  brigade,  and 
therefore  next  to  the  first  regiment  in  the  whole  army. 
The  army  will  doubtless  be  from  one  hundred  thousand  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  strong,  so  that  I  have  great 
reason  to  be  satisfied.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  54th 
is  well  thought  of. 

The  service  of  my  regiment  has  been  very  active,  though 
we  have  had  no  general  engagement,  marching,  changing 
camp  often,  with  scout  and  picket  duty,  has  kept  them  con 
stantly  on  the  "  qui  vive."  I  find  the  life  of  a  soldier  full 
of  excitement,  and  to  me  perfectly  fascinating.  My  mind 
and  body  are  constantly  at  work.  I  hope  good  will  result  to 
the  country  from  the  efforts  we  are  now  making,  but  every 


Letters  1 9 1 

one  here  is  opposed  to  us.  The  people  almost  without  ex 
ception  are  ' '  secesh. "  I  have  taken  a  great  many  prisoners, 
some  of  them  men  of  wealth,  who  do  not  hesitate  to  declare 
their  traitorous  feelings.  An  army  of  occupation  will  give 
us  the  control  of  trade,  however,  and  restore  to  the  North 
west  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi. 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  SHII,OH,  TENNESSEE,  March  31,  1862. 

We  have  not  yet  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  the  enemy. 
I  have  made,  in  connection  with  Generals  Sherman  and 
Stuart,  various  reconnoitres,  and  day  before  yesterday  we 
were  just  on  the  heels  of  a  body  of  cavalry,  but  they  managed 
to  elude  our  forces.  As  I  mentioned  to  you  in  a  former 
letter,  there  is  a  large  army  concentrating  at  this  point, 
where,  I  suppose,  will  be  congregated  a  force  of  an  hundred 
and  forty  thousand.  The  enemy  are  in  force  at  Corinth, 
some  seventeen  miles  distant.  Our  men  are  fast  becoming 
acclimated,  and  are  becoming  restored  to  their  wfonted 
health  and  vigor.  As  I  said  before,  my  own  health  is  most 
excellent,  and  I  am  really  insensible  to  fatigue,  at  least  on 
horseback.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  me  to  be  eight  or  ten 
hours  on  the  stretch  in  the  saddle.  If  the  spring  and  sum 
mer  heats  do  not  overcome  me,  I  am  sure  I  shall  derive 
benefit  from  the  campaign.  I  desire  continually  to  assure 
you  of  my  safety,  and  to  pray  you  to  disabuse  your  mind  of 
apprehension  of  danger  to  me  either  from  ill-health  or  the 
casualties  of  an  engagement,  the  latter  are  of  the  most  trivial 
character  ;  there  is  not  one  chance  in  a  thousand  of  my 
being  scathed. 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  INF., 

IST  DIVISION  OF  THE  EXPEDITION  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

ENCAMPED  NEAR  PITTSBURG,  TENN. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  am  as  safe  here  as  I  should  be  in  New  York  or  in  Cin 
cinnati  ;  the  same  kind  Providence  is  over  me.  My  com- 


1 92  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

mand  has  been  much  harassed  with  marching  and  counter 
marching  and  rapid  movements  from  place  to  place,  coupled 
with  confinement  on  steamboat,  which  has  tended  to  pro 
duce  sickness  ;  but  my  own  health  is  good.  As  evidence  of 
this  fact,  I  may  say  that  yesterday  the  division  under  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  of  which  our  brigade  forms  a  part,  made  a  very 
extended  reconnoissance,  driving  in  the  enemy's  pickets  ; 
that  I  was  compelled  to  rise  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and,  mounting  at  five,  rode  at  the  head  of  my  regiment  for 
fourteen  hours  without  dismounting  save  to  change  horses  ; 
that  I  did  not  lie  down  till  after  twelve  o'clock,  and  that  I 
rose  this  morning  at  five,  and  now  at  nine  do  not  feel  any 
ill  effects.  This  has  been  the  longest  and  most  hurried 
march  we  have  yet  made. 

We  shall  have  a  very  large  army  here,  as  will  probably 
the  rebels,  who  will  concentrate  their  forces  at  Corinth,  a 
point  on  the  railroad  some  seventeen  miles  off.  The  army 
here  is  now  under  the  general  command  of  Gen.  Charles  F. 
Smith,  whom  you  may  recollect  in  Washington  ;  either  his 
wife  or  daughter,  I  suppose  his  wife,  was  somewhat  cele 
brated  in  social  circles  as  Mrs.  Fanny  Smith.  Ada,  I  sup 
pose,  will  recollect  her.  He  is  very  distinguished  here  as  a 
soldier,  and  was  the  hero  of  Fort  Donaldson.  The  immediate 
division,  of  which  my  command  forms  a  part,  is  under  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  and  I  am  brigaded  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Stuart,  who  ranks  me,  but  I  am  second  in  command 
to  him.  He  is  David  Stuart  of  Michigan,  who  represented 
the  Detroit  District  in  Congress  during  the  Pierce  Adminis 
tration.  The  commander-in-chief  of  the  department  is 
General  Halleck.  Letters  will  reach  me  directed  to  the 
54th  Regt.  O.  V.  Inf.,  Second  Brigade,  First  Division  of  the 
Expedition  to  Tennessee,  via  Cairo  or  Paducah,  Ky. 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  the  cotton-growing  region,  but  the 
upland  is  sterile,  and  the  climate  apparently  the  same  as  in 
Cincinnati.  The  people  are  a  strange  compound  of  extreme 
ignorance  with  very  considerable  refinement  of  manner  and 
conversation.  They  are  all,  without  any  exception  I  have 
yet  found,  ' '  secesh, ' '  and  look  upon  the  ' '  Yanks, ' '  as  they 


Letters  193 

call  all  people  from  the  North,  with  not  only  aversion,  but  a 
' '  holy  horror. ' '  I  feel  almost  convinced  that  we  are  a  dis 
tinct  people,  that  re-union  is  well-nigh  impossible. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  SHILOH,  TENNESSEE,  April  n,  1862. 

MY  DKAR  WIFE  : 

You  will  have  learned  by  the  papers  long  before  this  letter 
reaches  you  that  we  have  had  a  splendid  engagement,  or,  I 
should  say,  a  series  of  engagements  running  through  three 
days.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  an  opportunity  of  writing 
you  to  apprise  you  of  my  safety,  though  I  have  asked  some 
two  or  three  others  to  do  so.  I  have  thus  far  passed  through 
unscathed,  save  a  slight  wound  in  the  arm.  My  regiment, 
however,  has  been  badly  cut  up.  My  boys  fought  gallantly, 
and  have  shown  a  dauntless  heroism  in  the  fortitude  they 
have  displayed,  in  the  endurance  of  fatigue  and  hardship 
they  have  been  subjected  to  since. 

Poor  young  De  Charmes  was  shot  through  the  lungs  early 
in  the  action  of  the  first  day.  Placing  his  hand  upon  his 
wound  he  said,  ' '  Tell  my  friends  I  die  happy  in  the  service 
of  my  country, ' '  the  only  words  he  spoke.  Captain  Rogall, 1 
the  accomplished  gentleman  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  so  often, 
was  mortally  wounded.  De  Charmes  was  a  nephew  of  Mr. 
Geo.  Graham,  who  may  enquire  of  you  concerning  him. 
His  remains  were  found  and  buried,  but  his  person  had  been 
rifled  of  his  watch,  money,  and  everything  valuable.  One 
of  my  horses  was  shot  three  times,  and  struck  in  the  neck  by 
a  piece  of  shell,  but  my  noble  "  Bellfounder, "  thank  God,  is 
safe  ;  he  carried  me  two  days  and  nights,  and  never  flinched 
from  shot  or  shell.  He  is  the  most  gallant  horse  I  ever  saw. 
Fatigue,  starvation,  exposure,  nothing  daunts  his  mettle. 

Ben  Runkle,  I  am  told,  who  was  with  one  of  the  regiments 
that  came  up  with  the  reserve,  was  shot  through  the  mouth. 
A  bad  wound,  I  am  told.  I  went  into  battle  with  less  than 
four  hundred.  My  regiment  had  been  cut  up  by  sickness 
and  fatigue  duty.  The  reports,  as  near  as  I  can  get  them  at 

1  This  officer,  though  shot  through  the  body,  recovered. 

13 


194  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

this  time,  show  two  hundred  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
After  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  battle 
began.  Colonel  Stuart  was  wounded,  and  had  to  retire. 
The  command  of  the  brigade  devolved  upon  me  as  next 
senior  officer,  and  I  carried  the  brigade  through  till  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  when,  by  order  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  I  added  another  brigade  to  it,  and  had  com 
mand  of  both  until  the  close  of  the  battle. 

I  thank  God  who  has  graciously  spared  my  life.  I  ask 
that  all  my  family  give  Him  thanks.  My  health  is  good. 
Write  to  my  dear  mother  and  send  her  this  letter.  This  is 
the  only  sheet  of  paper  I  can  borrow,  and  it  is  hard  to  write. 
My  best  love  to  all  my  dear  children  and  to  you. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  U.  S.  A., 

CAMP  SHII.OH,  TENNESSEE,  April  12,  1862. 

I  have  an  opportunity  of  writing  at  private  hand,  which  I 
must  not  let  slip  although  I  wrote  you  yesterday.  My 
health  never  was  better,  and  I  am  in  good  spirits,  hoping 
for  another  engagement,  which  I  trust  will  be  the  last. 
.  .  .  The  next  time  our  boys  will  be  exactly  in  fighting 
trim.  You  must  not  permit  yourself  to  be  worried  about  me. 
God  will  take  the  same  good  care  of  me  in  the  future  as  He 
has  done  in  the  past.  The  God  of  Battles  (to  whom  I  am 
grateful  with  all  my  heart,  for  He  alone  has  saved  me)  will 
still  stretch  forth  His  protecting  arm,  unless  it  is  His  Will 
that  I  should  go,  and  if  it  is  His  Will,  I  trust  I  shall  be  ready. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  SHI^OH,  TENN.,  April  17,  1862. 

Captain  '  is  still  safe,  and  I  think  if  he  gets  through  this 
war,  he  will  be  sufficiently  broken  for  the  children  to  ride. 
Though  his  mettle  is  as  good  as  the  best  war  horse  of  them 
all. 

1  A  bay  horse  of  much  beauty. 


Letters  195 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  I., 

CAMP  SHII/JH,  TENNESSEE,  April  14,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  : 

Well,  my  dear  Helen,  the  great  fight  has  been  fought ;  I 
have  had  my  part  in  it,  and,  save  a  slight  scratch  not  worth 
mentioning,  have  come  out  safe.  The  papers,  of  course, 
teem  with  accounts,  which  you  have  doubtless  read  until 
you  are  satisfied  ;  but,  at  the  risk  of  stale  news,  I  wrill  give 
you  my  experience  of  the  battle,  of  which  I  believe  I  saw  as 
much  as  ' '  any  other  man. ' ' 

On  the  Thursday  preceding,  my  command  had  been 
ordered  upon  a  most  fatiguing  night  march,  which  lay  for 
six  miles  through  a  dense  swamp  to  a  point  near  a  ford, 
where  we  lay  for  some  hours  in  ambuscade  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  a  body  of  rebel  cavalry.  On  Friday  we  marched 
back  to  camp.  On  Saturday,  nearly  the  whole  regiment 
was  turned  out  on  fatigue  duty  to  build  some  bridges  and  a 
road  to  cross  artillery,  and  on  Saturday  night  I  was  ordered 
to  hold  my  command  in  readiness  for  an  expedition  to  march 
as  early  as  eight  o'clock  on  Sunday.  All  this  service  was 
intensely  fatiguing  to  the  officers  and  harassing  to  the  men, 
but  to  the  last  order  I  probably  owe  my  life,  for,  having 
been  prompt  in  its  execution  and  my  horse  being  saddled, 
no  sooner  had  the  long  roll  sounded,  than  my  men  were  in 
line.  The  attack  was  very  sudden,  and  within  three  minutes 
our  tents  wrere  literally  riddled  with  the  balls  of  the  enemy's 
skirmishers.  We  marched  the  battalion  to  a  kind  of  penin 
sula  formed  by  a  dense  ravine  on  the  one  side  and  a  creek  on 
the  other,  and  there  formed  the  line  of  battle. 

From  the  fatigue  duty  I  have  spoken  of,  and  certain  camp 
epidemics  prevalent,  our  forces  had  been  very  much  weak 
ened,  and  we  took  into  the  field  but  about  fifteen  hundred 
men.  To  this  force  were  opposed  eight  thousand  of  the 
enemy's  infantry,  supported  by  artillery  and  cavalry.  Now, 
to  the  better  understanding  of  my  account,  you  must  recol 
lect  what  I  have  before  written  you,  that  the  Second  Brigade 
of  Sherman's  Division  occupied  the  extreme  left  wing  of  the 
army,  whose  front  lines  extended  many  miles  ;  that  my  regi 
ment  occupied  the  extreme  left  of  the  brigade,  and  observe 


196  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

that  the  enemy  having  surprised  the  centre  which  was  broken, 
and  having  routed  and  captured  the  greater  part  of  Prentiss' 
command,  to  whom  we  looked  for  support,  stole  down  our 
front  and  attempted  to  outflank  us,  and  now  at  about  nine 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning  we  joined  battle.  Having  seen 
by  my  glass  the  vastly  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  I  deter 
mined  to  sell  our  lives  as  dearly  as  possible,  but  never  to 
surrender,  and  ordered  my  Zouaves  to  lie  on  their  bellies, 
and,  waiting  the  attack,  not  to  fire  until  the  foe  was  within 
twenty  yards.  We  were  ranged  along  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
slightly  covered  with  a  small  growth  of  timber,  and  between 
us  and  the  advancing  ranks  was  an  open  plain.  On  they 
came,  steadily,  and  save  the  tread  of  the  well-trained  sol 
diers,  led  by  General  Hardee  in  person,  not  a  sound  was 
heard  ;  at  last  they  were  upon  us,  and  then  commenced  the 
deafening  roar  of  volley  after  volley  ;  for  four  hours  and  a 
half  the  deadly  hand-to-hand  conflict  raged.  (I  took  390 
enlisted  men  into  battle,  I  left  187  upon  the  field,  killed  or 
badly  wounded,  but  from  me  they  took  no  prisoners.  The 
yist  Ohio  .  .  .  abandoned  us  early  in  the  action,  but 
the  55th  Illinois  were  staunch.  The  brigade  lost  587  killed 
and  wounded,  but  most  of  these  are  from  the  54th  Ohio  and 
55th  Illinois).  At  last  our  ammunition  began  to  fail,  and  I 
never  shall  forget  the  despairing  looks  of  some  of  the  boys, 
who  would  come  clustering  around  my  horse  and  say, 
' '  Colonel,  what  shall  I  do  ;  my  cartridges  are  all  out  ?  ' ' 
But,  fortunately,  the  enemy's  fire  began  to  slack.  My  men 
all  fired  low,  every  man  made  his  mark,  and  though  our 
own  men  could  hardly  get  round  among  their  own  killed  and 
wounded,  the  field  was  strewn  thick  with  the  dead  of  the 
foe.  By  this  time  I  was  in  command  of  the  brigade,  Colonel 
Stuart  having  been  wounded  and  compelled  to  retire.  I  fell 
back  in  good  order  for  better  position  and  until  I  could  be 
reinforced  with  ammunition  ;  my  forty  rounds  were  all  gone. 
At  last  an  orderly  from  General  Grant  came  up  to  promise 
the  required  supply  and  to  order  us  to  a  position  at  which 
we  could  cover  a  battery.  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  the 
enemy  had  planted  a  battery  upon  a  height,  commanding 
our  first  position,  and  were  shelling  us  all  the  while  the  first 


Letters  1 9  7 

fight  was  going  on.  One  of  my  horses  was  struck  once  by 
a  piece  of  shell  and  twice  by  rifle  balls.  No  sooner  had  we 
taken  position  by  the  batteries  than  the  attack  was  renewed 
with  greater  vigor  than  ever  ;  but  now  the  heavy  guns  from 
the  gunboats  in  our  rear  began  to  throw  their  shells  clean 
over  us  and  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy ;  never  was  sweeter 
music  to  my  ears  than  their  thunder  ;  the  shades  of  night 
drew  on,  the  enemy  began  to  slacken  fire,  and,  as  shell  after 
shell  dropped  and  burst  in  their  midst,  gradually  retired. 
Our  men  dropped  exhausted  on  their  arms  ;  all  day  the 
battle  had  raged,  all  day  they  had  suffered  privation  of  food 
and  drink,  and  now  began  to  fall  a  copious  shower  of  rain, 
which  lasted  steadily  till  morning  ;  through  that  shower 
without  a  murmur  they  slept,  and  the  next  morning  at  seven 
o'clock  I,  having  been  formally  placed  in  command  of  the 
brigade  by  order  of  General  Sherman,  began  the  march 
towards  the  right  wing,  where  we  were  to  take  position. 
General  Nelson,  who  with  General  Buell  had  brought  up  re 
inforcements  during  the  night,  had  commenced  manoeuvres 
at  daybreak.  As  early  as  eight  o'clock  my  brigade  was  in 
the  line  of  battle  and  under  a  heavy  fire  of  shell.  At  about 
nine  o'clock  we  were  ordered  into  action,  which  was  hotly 
contested  all  the  day  long.  About  four  o'clock  I  was 
ordered  to  the  command  of  another  brigade,  or,  more  prop 
erly,  a  concentration  of  skeleton  regiments,  which  I  had  got 
into  line,  and,  leaving  my  own  command  with  L,ieutenant- 
Colonel  Malmborg,  carried  my  new  command  far  into  an 
advanced  position,  then  returning,  brought  up  my  own 
brigade  upon  the  left  of  Shiloh  Chapel.  Now  the  Pelican 
flag  began  to  waver  and  droop.  All  the  day  long  we,  that 
is,  my  immediate  command,  were  opposed  to  the  "  Crescent 
City  Guards, ' '  the  pet  regiment  of  Beauregard,  to  whom  in 
the  morning  he  had  made  his  whole  army  present  arms,  and 
whose  flag  he  had  at  the  same  time  planted,  saying  of  us, 
the  Northern  army,  "  Thus  far,  but  no  farther  shalt  thou 
go  "  ;  vain  boast ;  at  even  tide,  like  a  gull  upon  the  crest 
of  the  wave  in  the  far-off  ocean,  it  fluttered  and  went  down. 
I  drew  my  forces  up  in  good  order  under  the  eye  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  and  Monday  night  again  under  a  most  drench- 


198  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ing  shower,  which  lasted  all  the  night  through,  the  men 
even  now  without  food  or  drink  lay  upon  their  arms,  and  on 
Tuesday  morning  were  again  in  line  ;  the  enemy  had  gone, 
but  not  their  occupation  ;  all  day  they  stood  guard  upon  the 
outposts,  and  the  next  day  we  marched  the  whole  regiment 
onward  for  three  miles  and  a  half  to  bring  in  the  wounded 
of  the  enemy.  That  day  I  took  thirty- two  prisoners,  and 
brought  in  the  bodies  of  an  Arkansas  colonel  and  Major 
Monroe,  of  Kentucky,  the  latter  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  the  State,  and  both  of  them  I  had  decently  interred. 
Oh,  Helen,  if  you  had  seen  the  horrors  of  that  battle, 
as  I  saw  them  when  the  rage  of  battle  had  passed,  the 
heaps  of  slain,  the  ghastly  wounds,  had  you  heard  the 
groans  of  the  dying,  had  you  seen  the  contortions  of  men 
and  horses  ;  but  why  dwell  on  the  theme  which  abler  wri 
ters  will  so  vividly  portray?  I  have  given  you  one  hasty 
sketch  of  the  humble  part  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  able 
to  play  in  one  of  the  greatest  dramas  of  the  age.  Thank 
God  for  me,  for  in  His  infinite  mercy  He  alone  has  preserved 
me  in  the  shock  of  battle;  pray  for  me  always.  One  more 
conflict,  and  I  leave  a  memory  for  my  children  or  make  a 
name  for  myself.  My  flag  is  still  unstained,  my  honor  still 
bright. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF.  U.  S.  A., 

ENCAMPED  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  SHILOH, 

April  27,  1862. 

"  Backward,  turn  backward,  oh  time, — in  your  flight, 

Make  rne  a  child  again  just  for  to-night. 
Mother,  come  back  from  the  echoiess  shore, 

Take  me  again  to  your  heart  as  of  yore  ; 
Kiss  from  my  forehead  the  furrows  of  care, 

Smooth  the  few  silver  threads  out  of  my  hair, 
Over  my  slumbers  your  loving  watch  keep, 

Rock  me  to  sleep,  mother,  rock  me  to  sleep." 

If  there  can  be,  dear  mother,  a  perfect  realization  of  all  the 
dreams  of  romance  in  which  my  youthful  fancy  ever  indulged, 
that  realization  is  now  mine.  Imagine  me  as  I  lie  in  my 
tent,  pitched  upon  a  hard-fought  battlefield,  my  tried  sword 


Letters  \  99 

and  trusty  pistols  at  my  head.  I  look  through  the  fly  at 
three  as  gallant  horses  as  ever  sniffed  the  breeze,  picketed 
close  at  hand  ;  just  beyond  them  the  encampment  of  my 
regiment,  a  band  of  devoted  followers,  all  of  whom,  if  actions 
speak  fairly,  worship  me,  every  one  of  whom  has  been  ready 
to  rush  to  death  at  my  bidding,  whose  ranks  have  been  fear 
fully  thinned,  but  still  contain  as  true  hearts  and  strong 
arms  as  ever  did  or  dared  on  battlefield.  My  flag  that 
fluttered  while  thousands  of  bullets  were  aimed  at  it,  that 
came  from  the  conflict  unstained  with  dishonor,  still  ripples 
in  the  balmy  air  of  this  lovely  day.  I  have  a  great  deal  to 
make  me  exultant,  but  oh,  if  I  could  only  roll  back  the  tide 
of  time  for  one  moment,  if  I  could  only  be  a  little  child  again 
with  your  hand  upon  my  brow,  if  you  could  only  take  me 
again  to  your  heart  as  of  yore,  how  gladly  would  I  exchange 
all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war ! 

We  shall  have  another  great  fight,  though  the  delay  has 
been  disastrous  to  us.  We  ought  to  have  followed  up  the 
flying  foe  on  Monday  night.  We  had  them  then  beyond  all 
doubt.  They  have  been  heavily  reinforced  since,  and  are 
very  stubborn.  At  the  rate  we  are  going  on,  this  war  will 
last  twenty-five  years,  and  will  cost  the  North  the  lives  of 
a  million  of  men. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  PEA  RIDGE,  TENN.,  May  i,  1862. 


Very  great  injustice  has  been  done  Ohio  troops.  They 
have  always  spoken  well  of  my  regiment,  however,  even  the 
Chicago  and  other  Illinois  papers.  There  were  so  many 
heroes  on  the  field  that  it  was  difficult  to  select  any  one  par 
excellence.  My  regiment  suffered  more  in  killed  and 
wounded  than  any  other  in  the  army.  I  lost  more  than 
half  rank  and  file  of  all  I  took  into  battle.  The  battlefield 
of  Shiloh  is  drenched  with  the  best  blood  of  the  regiment. 
My  command  was  very  gallant,  and  I  am  proud  of  it,  or 
rather  what  is  left  of  it,  for  it  has  dwindled  to  the  merest 


2OO  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

handful.  It  is  spoken  of  in  the  official  dispatches,  which 
will  be  published  some  time  hereafter.  We  marched  to  this 
point  yesterday  and  the  day  before.  We  are  now  but  a  short 
distance,  less  than  half  a  day's  march  from  Corinth,  and  hope 
to  join  battle  in  a  few  days.  I  think  your  son  will  be  heard 
of  in  that  battle,  though  Smith  is  a  hard  name  to  contend 
with.  You  would  be  amused  at  the  vicissitudes  I  have  had 
to  contend  with  from  my  most  unfortunate  cognomen.  The 
fellow  who  pretended  to  be  able  to  lift  the  world  if  he  could 
find  a  lever  long  enough,  would  have  stared  aghast  at  a 
proposition  to  lift  the  name  of  ' '  Smith  '  *  out  of  the  slough 
of  obscurity  with  a  lever  double  the  length  of  that  he  re 
quired  to  lift  the  earth. 

Soldiering  is  a  pretty  hard  life,  take  it  one  day  with 
another.  You  don't  get  anything  good  to  eat  or  to  drink, 
and  you  learn  to  go  without  sleep,  and  you  are  always  going 
somewhere,  or  on  the  eve  of  doing  something,  and  you  are 
never  clean  and  comfortable,  and  always  cross  ;  but,  as  a 
whole,  I  believe  I  had  rather  rough  it  and  fight  a  battle 
every  other  day  than  go  back  to  the  terrible  servitude  which 
has  been  my  lot  for  the  past  twelve  years.  My  health  has 
been  very  good  till  the  past  two  or  three  weeks.  We  camped 
on  the  battlefield,  which  was  a  vast  charnel-house.  The 
night  of  Monday  of  the  battle,  I  slept  011  the  ground  in  the 
rain,  and  when  I  awoke  in  the  morning  found  I  had  gone  to 
bed  between  two  rebel  corpses,  one  on  each  side  of  me,  and 
that  I  had  tied  my  horse  so  close  to  a  third  that  he  could  not 
lie  down  without  lying  on  it.  If  such  things  are  horrible, 
this  battlefield  is  too  horrible  to  be  described,  as  was  the 
burial,  or  attempted  burial,  of  the  dead  ;  but  it  is  astonish 
ing  to  note  how  soon  one  gets  used  to  these  things,  perfectly 
seared  or  hardened  to  suffering  in  every  shape,  the  mutilated 
stump,  the  ghastly  mortal  wound.  One  bagged  rebels  as  if 
they  were  partridges.  I  think  my  regiment  killed  more 
than  a  thousand  of  them.  I  was  going  to  say  that  the  smell 
of  the  battlefield  for  two  or  three  days  afterwards  was  ter 
rible  beyond  description,  that  we  were  camped  upon  it,  and 
had  to  live  in  it  for  twenty-two  days,  and  that  it  produced  a 
kind  of  dysenteric  diarrhoea  that  afflicted  me,  and  with  which 


Letters  201 

I  was  a  great  deal  prostrated.  I  have  now  regained  my 
wonted  vigor,  and,  notwithstanding  your  predictions  to  the 
contrary,  believe  I  go  through  about  as  much  as  any  one 
else.  After  the  next  battle,  if  we  have  time  and  get  through 
safely,  I  will  try  and  write  you  a  more  detailed  account  of 
my  past  life  here,  but  just  now  I  cannot  write. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  PEA  RIDGE,  TENN.,  May  2,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

To-day  is  the  anniversary  of  our  marriage.  Can  you 
realize  so  many  years  are  buried  with  the  dead  past  ?  Years 
I  fear  of  more  pain  than  pleasure  to  you.  How  eventful 
they  have  been ! 

We  have  marched  forward  still  further  toward  Corinth. 
I  expect  an  engagement  shortly. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGIMENT  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  No.  5  IN  THE  FIELD,  May  8,  1862. 

I  notice  the  printers  make  terrible  havoc  with  my  name. 
They  call  me  Kelly,  and  Kirby,  and  F.  Kirby,  and  the 
I/ord  only  knows  what  else,  but  I  can  generally  be  identified 
as  the  Smith  who  led  the  Second  Brigade  on  Monday,  and 
that  directly  under  Sherman's  eye,  and  in  conjunction  with 
the  celebrated  Rousseau  Brigade.  A  good  many  of  the  local 
papers  up  through  the  country  have  complimented  both  the 
regiment  and  myself.  These,  of  course,  you  do  not  see,  but 
I  would  advise  you  to  take  all  of  the  Cincinnati  papers  for  a 
while,  and  look  out  for  official  reports  of  both  Sherman  and 
General  Stuart.  I  have  not  written  full  details  of  the  battle 
to  you  for  two  reasons.  One  that  I  had  very  little  time  and 
one  that  I  thought  you  would  get  fuller  details  through  the 
newspapers.  The  battle  is  getting  somewhat  stale  now  any 
how.  The  next  one  I  will  try  harder. 


2O2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

While  I  write  there  is  an  incessant  roar  of  artillery,  heavy 
siege  guns.  We  made  a  sortie  this  morning  and  had  a  brush 
with  the  enemy's  pickets.  My  Zouaves  killed  three  of  them, 
wounded  five,  and  brought  in  four  prisoners.  Our  brigade, 
the  Second  of  the  Fifth  Division,  consisting  now  of  only 
Colonel  Stuart's  regiment  and  mine,  is  clear  in  the  advance 
of  the  whole  army  and  the  nearest  to  Corinth.  We  heard 
for  two  nights  the  whistle  of  the  cars  very  plainly.  Cannon 
are  playing  all  the  time,  and  I  think  a  great  battle  not  far 
off.  General  Sherman  has  been  made  a  Major- General,  a 
promotion  he  well  deserves.  You  must  not  believe  all  the 
newspapers  say  of  him  ;  he  is  a  splendid  officer  and  a  most 
excellent,  good  man.  I  have  every  confidence  in  him..  I  sat 
by  his  side  on  horseback  for  an  hour  on  Monday  of  that  terri 
ble  battle  while  shot  and  shell,  cannon,  cannister,  and  Minie- 
balls  rained  and  rattled  all  about  us.  Scores  of  horses  and 
men  killed,  and  falling  so  close  that  the  dead  and  dying 
piled  all  up  about  our  horses,  his  cheek  never  blanched. 
He  never  for  a  moment  lost  his  coolness.  His  hand  was 
badly  wounded  by  a  piece  of  shell.  He  quietly  went  on 
giving  his  orders  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  A  few 
minutes  before  I  joined  him  he  had  three  horses  killed  under 
him.  A  braver  man  I  never  saw,  and  I  saw  him  in  the 
thickest  of  it.  If  you  note  the  official  returns,  you  will  dis 
cover  that  the  Sherman  Division  lost  a  great  many  more  in 
killed  and  wounded  than  either  of  the  other  divisions.  I 
had  intended  to  write  mother,  but  have  just  received  orders 
to  get  my  regiment  in  marching  trim.  We  go  forward,  and 
this  time,  I  think,  no  halt  till  we  storm  the  batteries  of 
Corinth.  You  must  make  the  latter  part  of  this  letter  do  for 
her.  I  think  of  her  always,  in  the  still  camp  at  nightfall, 
on  the  march,  or  in  the  din  of  conflict  her  image  is  always 
in  my  heart.  I  have  written  very  often  to  her,  it  is  strange 
she  does  not  receive  my  letters.  She  asks  for  details  of  my 
regiment,  these  she  must  get  from  the  newspapers.  Kven 
they,  or  those  who  have  written  for  them,  admit  my  men 
fought  most  gallantly.  I  took  three  hundred  and  ninety 
into  the  field,  of  these  one  hundred  and  ninety  fell  killed  or 
wounded.  Ask  her  to  search  the  papers  for  detailed  report 


Letters  203 

of  General  Sherman,  and  Colonel  Stuart,  which  ought  to  ac 
company  it.  Part  of  this  has  been  published  in  the  New 
York  Herald.  The  Illinois  papers  publish  accounts  of  the 
54th.  You  know,  but  must  write  mother,  for  she,  I  suppose, 
has  not  heard  it,  that  the  regiment  stood  on  Sunday  under  a 
murderous  fire  for  four  hours  and  a  half;  that  the  55th 
Illinois  and  the  54th  Ohio  with  about  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  men  were  attacked  by  an  entire  division,  admitted  by 
intelligent  prisoners,  surgeons,  and  others  to  contain  nearly 
ten  thousand,  with  cavalry  and  artillery,  led  by  some  of 
their  best  generals  ;  Hardee  among  the  number  ;  that  we 
stood  till  our  ammunition  was  all  exhausted,  and  then  fell 
back  in  good  order  for  more  ;  that  while  standing,  we 
piled  the  ground  with  the  enemy's  dead  ;  that  we  made 
two  of  their  regiments  break  and  run,  who  in  running  were 
received  on  the  bayonets  of  their  own  men,  who  forced  them 
back.  On  Wednesda}^  one  thousand  five  hundred  of  their 
dead  were  buried  in  one  little  ravine  where  they  fell.  Tow 
ards  the  last  and  when  ammunition  got  scarce,  my  Zouaves 
never  fired  a  shot  without  drawing  a  cool  bead  ;  and  no  shot 
was  fired,  for  we  were  within  less  than  one  hundred  yards 
of  them,  that  a  rebel  did  not  bite  the  dust.  We  fell  back, 
were  reinforced  with  ammunition,  formed  a  line,  and  in 
the  rear  of  the  batteries  fought  till  dark.  We  lay  on  our 
arms  in  the  rain  and  rose  to  fight  all  day  Monday,  and 
on  Monday  evening  we  were  in  the  advance  of  the  army, 
and  the  last  to  stop  under  orders  in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing 
foe.  We  lay  on  our  arms  Monday  night,  and  were  in  the 
line  of  battle  again  on  Tuesday,  and  on  Wednesday  we 
marched  forth  to  bring  in  thirty- two  prisoners. 


Individual  acts  of  heroism  were  performed  by  men  and 
officers  of  my  regiment  that  have  never  been  excelled  in 
song  or  story.  There  is  none  to  tell  the  tale  for  them,  and 
they  are  too  modest  to  puff  themselves.  You  will  not  find 
details,  but  you  will  find  the  main  facts  in  the  reports  I  have 
spoken  of,  and  these  you  must  hunt  up  and  read.  I  am 
considered  by  my  superior  officers  to  have  done  my  duty, 


204  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  I  have  their  confidence.     God  has  been  good  in  preserv 
ing  my  life. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 
CAMP  No.  6  IN  THE  FIEI<D, 

MISSISSIPPI,  May  15,  1862. 


We  are  still  advancing,  counter-skirmishing,  and  the  din  of 
cannonading  is  by  day  and  night.  We  are  close  to  Corinth. 
A  great  and  decisive  battle  must  soon  be  fought.  We  have 
been  brigaded  a  second  time.  My  regiment  is  now  under 
command  of  Brigadier- General  Morgan  L,.  Smith,  and  con 
sists  of  four  regiments,  the  55th  Illinois,  Colonel  Stuart  ;  the 
57th  Ohio,  under  Lieutenant-  Colon  el  Rice,  the  Colonel  being 
absent  on  sick  leave  ;  the  8th  Missouri,  and  the  54th  Ohio. 
I  still  preserve  my  position  on  the  left  flank,  which  gives  me 
my  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  brigade,  and  as  we 
march  by  the  left  flank,  the  advance  of  the  army,  which  is  a 
post  of  honor.  The  integrity  and  courage  of  my  command 
is  undoubted,  and  therefore  the  responsible  trust.  My  ad 
dress  will  now  be  54th  Regiment,  Ohio  Volunteers,  First 
Brigade,  Fifth  Division,  Major-General  Sherman  command 
ing. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  No.  7  BEFORE  CORINTH,  May  19,  1862. 

Yesterday  we  were  in  a  sharp  engagement.  Had  thirteen 
men  killed  and  thirty-five  wounded.  We  were  victorious, 
and  drew  the  enemy  from  position.  My  troops  are  now  in 
battle  array,  waiting  orders.  We  hear  General  Pope  is  hotly 
engaged  on  the  left  wing. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  No.  7  BEFORE  CORINTH,  May  21,  1862. 

I  am  still  safe  through  constant  skirmishing.     The  great 
battle  has  not  come  off,  but  the  premonitions  peal  upon  the 


Letters  205 

ear  every  minute.  Both  armies  are  stubborn  and  brave. 
We  shall  see  and  take  part  in  the  greatest  battle  of  the  age, 
unless  the  enemy  evacuate  Corinth,  which  I  do  not  expect. 
Don't  let  apprehension  for  this  battle  give  you  pain  or  fear 
for  my  safety.  Scores  of  bullets  have  whistled  close  to  my 
ear  since  I  wrote  you  three  days  ago,  and  I  am  still  un 
harmed.  I  have  been  in  the  din  of  conflict  and  thick  of  the 
fight  by  day  and  I  may  almost  say  by  night.  The  roar  of 
cannon  and  rattling  of  musketry  are  constantly  in  my  ear, 
but  I  have  been  preserved,  and  the  same  good  God  will  con 
tinue  to  uphold  me. 

I  rather  think  this  day  Stephen  has  deserted  me.  He  is 
tired  of  war,  and  latterly  has  become  very  useless.  I  attach 
but  little  blame  to  those  who  having  the  power  leave  this 
field — unless  stimulated  by  patriotism  or  hope  of  glory. 
Deprivation,  disease,  and  suffering  are  the  lot  of  the  mass, 
and  it  requires  powerful  nerves  and  great  fortitude  to  stand 
up  against  that  which  the  soldier  has  to  endure.  One  tithe 
of  his  sufferings,  aside  from  fatigue  and  exposure,  will  never 
be  told. 

The  weather  is  now  cold  and  rainy,  but  has  been  intensely 
hot.  The  insect  and  worm  tribe  are  infinite  in  number,  and 
the  little  wood  tick  is  always  at  work  under  your  skin.  I 
am  often  compelled  to  sleep  on  the  bare  ground,  and  without 
a  tent.  Such  a  night  is  a  precursor  to  myriads  of  them. 
My  health,  however,  is  as  good  as  that  of  the  general  aver 
age  about  me.  I  feel  pretty  well  when  I  get  good  food,  not 
so  well  without  it.  Good  beef,  good  mutton,  good  bread, 
brandy,  ale,  and  wine  is  what  the  human  system  wants,  and 
these  I  recommend  to  you.  They  are  better  than  all  the 
doctor's  stuffs. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  No.  8  BEFORE  CORINTH,  May  24,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

In  the  midst  of  ' '  battle  and  murder  and  sudden  death, ' ' 
your  letter  of  the  1 2th  inst.  is  handed  me.     I  snatch  a  hasty 


206  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

moment  to  reply.  I  have  waited  for  many  days  for  the  time 
to  come  when  I  might  sit  down  to  write  you  as  I  would 
wish,  but  the  hurry  of  the  march,  the  incessant  labor  at  the 
breastworks,  the  din  of  the  skirmish  leave  no  opportunity 
for  writing.  I  have  slept  in  my  clothes  with  bridle  in  hand 
for  the  past  ten  days  and  nights.  We  are  close  upon  Corinth, 
Our  pickets  within  sight  of  the  enemy's  entrenchments. 
My  troops  stack  arms  behind  our  own  breastworks,  and  there 
I  bivouac.  You  must,  judging  from  the  slips  you  sent  me, 
have  very  meagre  accounts  of  the  movements  of  Sherman's 
Division.  I  have  asked  wife  to  forward  the  newspaper  intelli 
gence,  which  is  partly  reliable,  and  with  which  the  Cincinnati 
papers  have  been  filled.  Pretty  full  accounts,  I  am  told, 
have  also  been  published  in  the  New  York  Herald,  a  corre 
spondent  of  which  is  with  the  division,  and  there  also  will 
be  found  Sherman's  and  Stuart's  reports.  Sherman's  report 
is  decidedly  the  best  account  of  the  battles  of  the  6th  and 
7th,  and  Stuart's  will  locate  the  position  of  our  brigade  in 
the  field  those  days.  Many  papers  published  in  St.  Louis 
and  Chicago  and  local  country  papers  in  Ohio  have  been 
sent  me  in  which  my  name  is  prominently  mentioned,  and 
they  have  been  pleased  to  compliment  me.  I  am  only  con 
scious  of  having  tried  to  do  my  duty.  Acts  of  heroism  were 
rife  those  days,  and  thousands  of  brave  hearts  ceased  to  beat. 
I  rode  many  a  weary  mile  over  the  dead  and  dying.  Some 
of  these  days,  if  we  live  to  meet,  I  will  tell  you  some  of  the 
horrors  of  that  battle.  Strange  how  soon  one  becomes 
blunted  to  horror.  How  little  one  thinks  of  human  suffer 
ing  and  death  and  despair.  I  could  tell  you  of  trenches  dug 
and  filled  with  bodies,  packed  to  lie  close  ;  of  gentlemen  of  the 
South,  whose  delicate  hands,  ringed  fingers,  and  fine  linen 
gave  evidence  of  high  birth  and  position.  Twenty,  thirty 
together  in  one  hole  ;  men  thrown  in  head  downward  or 
upward,  clotted,  mutilated,  bloody,  sometimes  a  man  and 
horse  together,  and  in  the  midst  of  these  graves  and  trenches 
and  the  carrion  of  hundreds  of  dead  horses,  I  camped  for 
twenty-two  days,  right  on  that  part  of  the  battlefield  which 
was  the  very  charnel,  and  right  where  I  halted  my  brigade 
on  Monday  night.  From  thence  our  course  has  been  for- 


Letters  207 

ward  ;  every  inch  of  the  ground  stubbornly  contested  by  the 
enemy.     We  have  crossed  the  State  line  from  Tennessee, 
and  now  in  Mississippi  by  regular  parallels  approach  the 
stronghold  of  the  enemy  ;  for  every  commanding  ridge  or 
hill  there  is  a  fight,  a  skirmish  we  call  it  here,  and  think 
but  little  of  forty  or  fifty  killed  and  one  or  two  hundred 
wounded.     .     .     .     It   is  a  terrible   war  in  all  its  phases. 
God  grant  that  our  beloved  country  be  once  again  blessed 
with  peace.     How  little  did  we    appreciate  the  blessing  ! 
how  priceless  now  would  be  its  restoration  !     You  ask  for 
incidents  interesting  to  me.     I  wish,  dear  mother,  I  could 
gratify  you.     If  I  only  had   memory  and  a  graphic  pen  I 
could  give  you  a  startling  history,  something  in  comparison 
to  which  the  scenes  in  Scott  and  James  would  seem  tame, 
but  my  aversion  to  writing  amounts  to  a  mania.     I  shrink 
from  pen  and  paper  as  a  mad  dog  does  from  water,  and  save 
to  you  and  wife,  I  write  ne'er  a  line  to  man  or  woman.     I 
wish  I  had  never  learned  to  write,  and  could  set  my  seal  like 
the  knights  of  old  instead  of  affixing  the  signature  which  has 
also  become  distasteful  to  me.     I  ought  to  tell  you  of  some  of 
my  night  marches  when  I  have  been  ordered  out  in  rain  and 
utter  darkness  with  my  own  regiment,  unsupported,  and  with 
no  one  to  divide  the  responsibility,  and  none  but  a  doubtful 
resident  as  a  guide.     How,  at  the  head  of  my  men,  with  the 
guide's  bridle  in  one  hand  and  a  pistol  in  the  other  to  shoot 
him  should  he  prove  recreant,   I  have  marched  for  miles 
through  the  pathless  and  almost  impenetrable  swamp,  my 
men  toiling  after  me  with  their  cartridge-boxes   slung  at 
bayonet  point  to  keep  the  powder  dry.     How  with  clothes 
wringing  wet  they  have  lain  in  ambuscade  till  day-dawn 
right  under  the  enemy's  guns  without  fire  or  food,  word  or 
whisper,  till  gray  dawn,  and  then  making  reconnoissance, 
steal  silently  back.     I  could  tell  you  of  my  charge  when 
my   color-guard   were  all  killed,    and  my  standard-bearer 
swept  away  by  a  falling  tree,  a  tree  cut  sheer  off  by  the 
solid  shot  from  a  cannon  ;  how  my  gallant  horse  pressed 
right  through  rank  after  rank  and  enabled  me  to  rescue  my 
flag  ;  or  I  could  tell  how  the  same  gallant  stallion  (and  I 
thank  God  he  stands  now  unscathed  right  near  me  munch- 


208  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ing  his  oats)  by  three  successive  leaps  bore  me  right  up,  not 
down,  a  precipice  of  rock  almost  perpendicular,  and  when 
one  could  hardly  have  found  foot-hold  for  an  antelope.  For 
the  first  time  in  my  life  on  horseback  I  closed  my  eyes  in 
fear.  Jagged  rocks  were  behind  me,  a  sheer  perpendicular 
wall  in  front ;  here  and  there  a  fissure  where  the  wild  vine 
caught  root.  I  thought  he  must  have  fallen  backwards  and 
that  I  must  die  ingloriously  mangled  under  him,  but  with 
unequalled  power  and  activity  he  bore  me  to  the  top,  and 
there  amidst  a  perfect  rain  of  balls  he  tossed  his  head  and 
flung  his  neigh  like  a  clear  ringing  trumpet.  These  things 
should  be  for  others  to  tell  ;  it  is  not  mine  after  I  have 
fought  my  battle  to  tell  my  own  story,  but  alas  !  there  are 
so  many  stories  to  tell  that  it  is  hard  to  find  a  historian  ; 
and  one's  comrade,  in  scenes  such  as  these  transpiring,  has 
enough  to  do  to  take  care  of  himself  instead  of  taking  care 
of  another's  fame  and  notes  to  give  it  wing.  Speaking  of 
fame,  I  may  as  well  give  up  the  hope  of  it.  This  name  of 
Smith,  in  these  latter  days,  attaches  to  too  many  good  men 
and  true,  to  say  nothing  of  the  damned  rascals  who  also 
inherit  it.  There  are  four  colonels,  one  a  Kirby  Smith  from 
Ohio.  There  is  your  friend,  E.  Kirby  Smith  of  Southern 
notoriety,  and  now,  to  cap  the  climax,  I  have  been  brigaded 
with  Morgan  L,.  Smith,  the  hero  of  Fort  Donaldson.  He  is 
a  dashing,  fighting  man,  and  we  have  an  eminently  fighting 
brigade,  the  left  flank  of  which  I  still  retain  ;  but  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Smith  might  as  well  attempt  to  pluck  bright 
honor  from  the  pale-faced  moon  as  to  win  fame.  If  I  figure 
in  the  ball,  the  scribblers  attach  the  feat  to  Morgan  ;  if  he 
performs  some  dauntless  deed  of  heroism,  I  get  the  glory. 
But  as  I  have  said  and  written,  this  is  not  the  war  or  the 
field  in  which  to  gather  laurels  ;  it  is  unholy,  unnatural  fratri 
cide.  As  well  might  he  who  has  buried  his  knife  in  his 
brother's  heart  rush  forth  and  exultingly  brandish  the  drip 
ping  blade  as  evidence  of  good  deed  done,  as  he,  the  execu 
tioner  of  the  law  (for  we  are  nothing  else  than  executioners 
sent  forth  by  Government  to  see  the  law  enforced),  offer  his 
trophies,  the  wrung  heart  of  the  widow  and  fatherless,  the 
ruined  plantation,  the  devastated  field,  the  destruction  of 


Letters  209 

the  fond  hopes  of  the  loving,  the  ruined  patrimony  of  the 
unborn,  claiming  fame,  glory,  and  renown.  In  sadness  and 
sorrow  we  draw  the  sword,  the  true  soldier  and  patriot 
sheathes  it  in  the  body  of  the  rebel  in  the  same  spirit  as  the 
patriarch  of  old  offered  his  son. 

But,  my  dear  mother,  I  must  write  you  of  yourself.  I 
received  two  letters  from  wife,  one  acquainting  me  with  your 
illness,  one  of  your  convalescence  ;  but  I  am  grieved  and 
shocked  that  you  should  have  been  so  ill.  You  have  been 
worried  about  me,  and  your  anxiety  has  affected  your  head 
and  brought  on  those  dreadful  hemorrhages.  I  know  how 
prone  you  are  to  borrow  trouble  and  always  fear  the  worst ; 
but  don't  fear  for  me,  dear  mother  ;  the  same  God  to  whom 
you  nightly  pray  for  me  will  hear  your  prayers  and  the 
prayers  of  my  wife  and  children.  I  have  firm  reliance  upon 
Him,  that  He  will  uphold,  sustain,  and  strengthen  me,  and 
bring  me  out  of  the  conflict  unharmed.  If  it  should  be  my 
lot  to  go  under — if  I  should  fall,  believe  me,  dear  mother,  I 
shall  fall  with  my  face  to  the  foe,  and  then,  in  the  language 
of  the  poet  who  has  written  the  beautiful  lines  you  have 
sent  me,  "Yield  him  'neath  the  chastening  rod,  to  His 
Country  and  his  God." 

But  banish  all  apprehensions  from  your  mind.  A  few 
years,  perhaps  a  few  short  months,  will  intervene  when  you 
and  I  together  will  join  those  who  have  gone  before  us, 
when  we  shall  solve  the  great  problem,  fathom  the  great 
gulf,  and  relying  on  the  Holy  Word  of  God  walk  with  the 
loved  ones  in  the  paths  of  Paradise.  A  little,  only  a  little 
while,  and  the  battle  of  life  for  both  of  us,  dear  mother,  will 
have  been  fought,  and,  with  God's  help,  the  victory  won. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CORINTH,  Miss.,  May  31,  1862. 

Well,  the  long  agony  is  over,  and  Corinth  is  ours.  Long 
before  this  letter  reaches  you,  will  your  mind  and  heart  have 
been  set  at  ease  in  respect  to  my  safety.  You  will  be  grati 
fied  to  learn  that  my  regiment  was  the  first  to  drive  in  the 
enemy's  pickets,  the  first  to  enter,  and  the  first  to  unfurl  the 


2io  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

national  flag  at  Corinth.  That  I  am  now  Commandant  of 
the  Post,  and  that  Major  Fisher  of  my  command  is  Provost 
Marshal  of  the  city.  How  long  I  shall  be  stationed  here  I 
do  not  know,  and  how  soon  I  shall  be  relieved  of  the  com 
mand  of  the  Post.  I  hope,  however,  they  will  leave  me 
time  enough  to  give  me  a  little  rest  ;  until  to-day  I  had  not 
had  trousers  or  boots  off  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights. 
But  to-day  Master  Stephen  provided  me  with  a  bucket  of 
clean  cold  water  and  some  clean  linen,  and  you  may  be  sure 
I  went  through  the  luxuries  of  a  thorough  ablution.  I  am 
now  living  in  a  fine  cottage  house,  which  was  yesterday  oc 
cupied  by  General  Bragg,  and  which  he  evacuated  in  my 
favor  ;  such  are  the  fortunes  of  war,  the  wheel  of  which 
rapidly  turns  ;  to-morrow  it  may  be  my  fate.  The  enemy 
leaving,  destroyed  an  immense  amount  of  property,  ten 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat  were  burned  in  one  pile  ;  beans, 
flour,  all  sorts  of  comestibles  shared  the  same  fate  ;  tents, 
quartermaster's  stores,  baggage  of  officers,  arms,  and  ammu 
nition  were  all  ruthlessly  sacrificed.  The}7  must  have  left  in 
a  terrible  panic.  I  do  not  know  what  the  country  will  say, 
but  I  regard  the  evacuation  as  a  complete  victory,  and 
although  a  bloodless  victory,  none  the  less  important  on  that 
account.  They  never  could  have  stood  before  us  had  our 
batteries  once  opened,  carnage  must  have  raged.  I  suppose 
their  policy  now  will  be  to  give  our  troops  the  possession  of 
the  larger  cities,  thinking  thereby  to  weaken  us,  and  after 
wards  by  contracting  their  forces,  to  cut  us  off  in  detail. 
We  are  not  yet  advised  where  they  are  gone.  There  were 
probably  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  troops  here,  and  they  seem  to  have  left  by  three 
different  routes.  Those  I  was  in  pursuit  of  yesterday  num 
bered,  judging  from  the  accounts  of  prisoners  and  deserters, 
some  thirty  thousand.  We  rushed  them  four  miles  beyond 
Corinth  until  we  were  stopped  by  a  burning  bridge.  My 
regiment  was  ordered  back,  but  to-day  cavalry  and  artillery, 
together  with  infantry,  are  in  hot  pursuit.  I  have  no  news 
since  last  evening,  and  am  writing  in  hot  haste  lest  I  should 
miss  the  opportunity  to  write  at  all. 


Letters  2 1 1 

My  own  health  is  pretty  fair,  considering  all  things.  The 
weather  is  very  hot,  but  as  long  as  I  can  stay  here  I  shall  be 
but  little  exposed,  and  the  water  here  is  good.  The  troops 
have  suffered  intensely  for  want  of  water.  We  shall  undoubt 
edly  have  a  protracted  war,  and  a  Southern  campaign  seems 
for  me  inevitable,  so  the  sooner  I  get  used  to  it  the  better. 
There  is  a  rumor  prevalent  that  we  are  under  marching 
orders,  and  that  our  destination  is  Washington  City.  I  have 
received  no  official  communication  yet,  however,  and  am  in 
the  dark.  It  is  astonishing  how  soon  one  gets  used  to  this 
nomadic  course  of  life,  here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow. 

For  the  present  I  am  really  living  "  en  Prince."  I  have 
three  grooms  and  six  guards  in  constant  attendance  upon 
my  horses  ;  and  such  horses  !  In  one  respect  at  least,  I  'in 
the  "  young  Lochinvar  "  of  the  army  ;  Halleck,  nor  Thomas, 
Sherman,  none  of  them  can  begin  to  show  with  me.  My 
'  '  Bell ' '  is  the  very  king  of  horses,  and  realizes  to  the  very 
full,  if  any  horse  ever  did,  Job's  description.  Then  I  have 
one  groom  of  the  chambers,  and  my  high  chamberlain  is 
Stephen  Davis,  vulgarly  called  "  Kernel,"  a  name  which 
he  despises  as  altogether  beneath  his  dignity.  Truth  to 
say,  he  looks  down  upon  me  latterly  a  good  deal,  and  I 
should  really  feel  reproached,  if  I  had  not  learned  early  in 
life  "  that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his  valet  de  chambre." 

Then  I  have  six  guards  for  my  chamber  door  and  hall, 
and  twelve  guards  for  my  entrance  hall,  and  as  I  have 
pressed  into  the  service  as  contraband  of  war  a  <(  neat- 
handed  Phyllis  ' '  of  the  African  persuasion,  who  boils  coffee 
to  perfection,  and  by  intuition  knows  the  nature  of  a  dodger 
and  its  congener,  light  biscuit,  you  need  have  no  fears  that 
as  a  modern  Corinthian,  I  shall  go  under  for  lack  of  creature 
comforts.  As  I  before  remarked,  I  hope  they  will  let  me 
remain  a  little  while  to  enable  me  to  recuperate,  but  if  they 
do  put  me  on  the  march  for  Washington  I  shall  not  have 
much  to  regret,  for  I  swear  I  would  not  take  Tennessee  and 
Mississippi,  from  what  I  have  seen  of  either  soil,  climate, 
water,  herds,  flocks,  men  or  women,  for  a  swine  pasture  if 
they  both  together  came  as  precious  gift.  As  for  this  city 


2 1 2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  Corinth,  to  which  I  have  come  not  as  Paul  to  that  other 
Corinth  (they  call  this  Corinth,  by  the  way,  with  the 
strongest  possible  emphasis  on  the  "  rinth  "),  that  for  which 
it  is  the  most  remarkable  is  flies,  not  tent  flies,  nor  the  in 
sect  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  the  wicked  flea,  though  the 
wicked  did  flee  from  here  ;  but  flies,  the  same  veritable,  old, 
brown -coated  curse  that  I  used  to  chase  over  the  window- 
pane  when  I  was  a  baby,  impale  on  a  pin  when  I  got  a  little 
older  ;  put  up  in  cages  to  mourn  over  when  Sally  Tinney 
stepped  on  them,  and  which  finally  have  come  back  to  me 
multiplied  as  the  sands  of  the  sea,  at  morning,  at  noon,  and 
at  night  as  thick  as  the  leaves  of  Vallambrosa.  Damn  the 
flies  !  they  remind  you  of  home,  and  you  miss  them  in  the 
woods  ;  they  are  eminently  fond  of  houses  and  cities,  scorn 
ing  ' '  green  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood  ' '  — and  this  city 
being  the  fungus  growth  of  railroads,  three  of  which  concen 
trate,  and  the  only  business  of  each  being  the  transportation 
of  sugar  and  molasses,  here  they  most  do  congregate,  and  I 
only  wish  that  in  their  congregations  they  would  chew  sugar 
and  eschew  me. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  CHEWAU,A,  Miss.,  June  9,  1862. 

We  are  now  encamped  near  a  small  town  called  Chewalla, 
about  fifteen  miles  south  of  Corinth  and  near  the  State  line 
that  divides  Tennessee  from  Missouri.  But  I  have  just  re 
ceived  marching  orders  for  five  o'clock  to-morrow  morning, 
and  as  yet  do  not  know  our  destination.  Memphis  and  Fort 
Pillow  are  taken  ;  their  army  must  be  scattered  ;  we  know 
it  was  a  good  deal  demoralized  ;  where  they  will  make  a 
stand  is  the  merest  matter  of  conjecture. 

The  heat  begins  to  make  itself  felt,  though  the  nights 
continue  cool.  I  have  had  tolerably  good  health,  nothing 
to  worry  about.  I  believe  I  stand  the  campaign  better  than 
the  average  of  the  men  and  officers. 

There  is  no  use,  however,  to  attempt  to  disguise  the  fact 
that  a  summer  campaign  in  the  South  must  be  terribly  fatal  to 


Letters  2 1 3 

our  troops.  Not  that  the  Northern  men  are  not  just  as  capa 
ble  as  the  Southerners,  indeed  more  so,  to  endure  the  vicissi 
tudes,  but  no  troops  can  stand  it.  We  must  use  fortitude, 
and  do  the  best  we  can, — I  leave  the  result  with  God,  in 
whom  I  have  firm  reliance.  I  am  always  sustained  by 
thoughts  of  you  and  of  your  prayers  in  my  behalf.  I  long, 
oh  !  how  ardently,  to  see  you,  but  I  must  not  think  of  it. 
God  only  knows  what  is  in  the  future  for  us.  I  could  not 
leave  my  post  ;  I  would  not  be  permitted  to  do  so  however 
strong  my  desire.  I  must  press  on  to  the  bitter  end. 

You  want  to  know  something  about  me,  but  I  hardly  know 
what  to  write  about.  I  am  sitting  in  a  tent  in  the  midst  of 
dense  woods,  but  near  the  side  of  a  dusty  road,  over  which 
regiments  are  marching,  and  all  towards  the  South.  My 
soldiers  are  all  about  cooking  rations,  and  making  other 
preparations  for  the  march  to-morrow.  To-morrow  night  I 
may  probably  sleep  on  the  ground,  with  a  saddle  blanket, 
because  our  transportation  train  will  not  be  with  the  regi 
ment,  and  there  is  no  other  way  to  carry  my  tent  or  cot. 
This  will  be  no  inconvenience  to  me,  for  I  have  very  often 
done  so,  and  that  in  the  rain,  with  nothing  but  an  india- 
rubber  cape  over  me.  I  sleep  sound  with  the  bridle  of  my 
horse  in  my  hand,  and  am  refreshed  at  daylight.  We  carry 
canteens  of  water  and  food  in  haversacks,  hard  crackers,  and 
salt  pork. 

We  are  always  on  the  lookout  for  the  enemy,  flankers  and 
skirmishers,  and  advance  guards.  Men  are  prevented  from 
straggling.  We  march  on  steadily,  halting  for  a  few  mo 
ments  every  hour.  When  we  camp,  pickets  and  sentinels 
are  posted,  and  they  who  are  not  on  guard  sleep  sound.  Men 
sleep  the  soundest  in  the  presence  of  danger.  I  have  known 
them  to  go  to  sleep  on  the  battlefield.  Indeed,  I  have  never 
known  sweeter  sleep  or  more  delightful  dreams  than  I  have 
had  behind  the  breastworks  of  fortifications  which  we 
momentarily  expected  would  be  stormed,  and  amid  the  in 
cessant  booming  of  cannon,  bursting  of  shells,  and  rattling 
of  musketry. 


214  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  CHEWAU,A,  Miss.,  June  10,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

We  have  marched  some  fifteen  miles  beyond  Corinth,  and 
in  a  few  moments  shall  proceed  on  our  march  to  Grand 
Junction,  some  twenty  miles  from  here  and  on  the  route  to 
Memphis.  I  remained  in  occupation  of  Corinth  three  days, 
and  was  succeeded  by  General  Halleck,  who  now  occupies 
the  quarters  I  left.  The  papers  have  scandalously  falsified, 
as  they  usually  do,  the  movements  of  Sherman's  Division. 
A  man  in  John  Groesbeck's  regiment  claims  the  rather 
barren  honor  of  flying  the  first  flag  over  Corinth,  when  the 
fact  is  that  mine,  which  was  the  first  by  two  hours  and  forty 
minutes  to  enter  the  town,  had  been  floating  for  that  length 
of  time.  The  town  was  under  guard  by  my  troops,  and 
Major  Fisher  was  acting  as  Provost  Marshal  (a  post  from 
which  he  was  only  the  day  before  yesterday  relieved)  at  the 
time  the  troops  who  claimed  the  credit  entered.  So  much 
for  newspapers,  which  are  a  tissue  of  falsehood  and  misrep 
resentations.  These  things  I  know  you  care  nothing  about, 
and  indeed  I  would  hardly  take  the  trouble  to  explain  ex 
cept  to  avoid  the  absurdity  which  would  attach  to  my  former 
letters,  if  you  believe  the  newspapers. 

The  weather  is  becoming  pretty  warm,  though  the  nights 
continue  cool,  indeed  I  may  say  cold,  for  two  or  three 
blankets  are  comfortable,  and  there  are  no  mosquitoes.  We 
do  not  suffer  so  much  from  the  wood  ticks  and  jiggers  as 
farther  back.  I  am  told  that  our  march  will  lie  through  a 
high  and  tolerably  fertile  country,  a  matter  to  be  much  de 
sired.  Since  our  occupancy  of  Tennessee,  all  supplies  have 
been  scarce,  the  country  people  very  poor  and  bereft  of 
everything  in  the  way  of  eatables.  I  hardly  know  what 
keeps  them  from  starvation.  .  .  .  We  think  the  back 
of  the  rebellion  is  broken  in  the  Southwest,  but  we  keep  up 
a  constant  vigilance,  for  the  foe  is  insidious.  Beauregard's 
army  must  have  been  a  good  deal  demoralized  before  the 
evacuation  of  Corinth,  if  we  may  believe  the  accounts  of  de 
serters  and  prisoners. 


Letters  2 1 5 

I  suppose  our  destination  is  Memphis.  They  may  make 
a  stand  against  us  on  the  way.  We  are  looking  anxiously 
for  action  from  McClellan.  Our  army  is  the  great  centre, 
his  the  left,  and  the  forces  in  Arkansas  the  right  wing,  and 
we  ought  to  move  forward  together.  We  shall  be  victorious, 
we  shall  conquer,  but  we  shall  never  subjugate  this  people. 
My  opinions  in  this  behalf,  so  often  expressed,  and  more 
than  a  year  ago,  have  never  changed.  They  are  a  people 
very  little  understood  at  the  North  ;  their  bitter  hostility 
to  the  North  will  never  change,  certainly  not  with  this 
generation  ;  they  have  learned  to  fear  us  and  to  hate. 


HEADQUARTERS  54fH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

LAGRANGE,  TENNESSEE,  June  21,  1862. 
DEAR  MOTHER  AND  HELEN  : 

We  are  now  encamped  at  Lagrange,  a  most  beautiful  town 
in  Tennessee,  surrounded  by  lovely  scenery,  the  country 
slightly  undulating,  watered  by  Wolf  River,  a  clear,  cold, 
and  swift-running  stream.  This  was  the  famous  hunting- 
ground  of  the  Chickasaw  Indians,  and  here  what  was  called 
the  lost  district,  the  disputed  ground  between  Mississippi 
and  Tennessee,  to  battle  for  which  the  militia  was  called  out 
years  ago.  The  place  is  celebrated  for  its  college  and  female 
seminaries,  and  the  very  great  beauty  of  its  suburban  resi 
dences.  Its  railroad  facilities,  its  pure  water,  and  healthy 
atmosphere  have  made  it  in  past  times  a  favorite  resort  for 
wealthy  citizens  from  Memphis,  Mobile,  and  further  South, 
and  luxury  and  refinement  have  characterized  its  inhabi 
tants.  Our  troops  were  received  here  with  chilling  reserve. 
The  .stores  were  closed,  the  hotels  refused  accommodations 
to  officers,  and  ladies,  who  had  been  unable  to  escape  by 
flight  to  the  plantations  or  elsewhere,  shut  themselves  up. 
The  men  had  pretty  much  all  managed  to  get  away.  As 
the  few,  however,  who  were  left  came  in  contact  with  the 
rank  and  file,  and  began  to  discover  that  we  were  not  the 
Goths  and  Vandals  they  had  been  led  to  believe,  and 
also  that  the  great  lever,  gold,  was  ready  to  be  plied  and 
piled,  they  wonderfully  changed  countenances,  began  to 


2 1 6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

brighten,  and  the  larders,  poorly  supplied,  however,  were 
opened.     .     .     . 

Our  brigade  had  been  here  but  a  day  when  we  were  ordered 
to  Holly  Springs,  distant  some  twenty-five  miles  south. 
We  made  there  a  forced  march,  going,  returning,  destroying 
a  bridge  and  trestlework  of  a  railroad  within  three  days. 
We  had  a  slight  skirmish  at  a  place  nine  miles  beyond  Holly 
Springs,  in  which  we  lost  four  wounded  and  killed  eight  of 
the  enemy.  Their  infantry  occupied  the  city,  but  fled  at 
our  approach.  I  was  appointed  Provost  of  the  city,  and  my 
regimental  flag  floated  from  the  Court-House.  The  history 
of  that  flag  in  this  regard  is  somewhat  remarkable — in  a 
future  letter  I  will  give  it  to  you.  Holly  Springs,  as  you 
know,  is  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  Mississippi,  surrounded 
by  magnificent  plantations,  in  the  midst  of  the  cotton-grow 
ing  region.  The  people  are  very  rich,  or  rather  have  been, 
and  are  the  true  representatives  of  the  South.  Our  reception 
there  was  somewhat  different  from  what  it  had  been  here. 
All  the  prominent  gentlemen  of  the  town  called  upon  me  in 
my  official  capacity,  and  many  of  them  tendered  me  the 
hospitalities  of  their  houses,  which  in  one  or  two  instances  I 
accepted.  They  had  lost  a  great  deal  by  the  burning  of 
cotton.  Many  of  the  wealthiest  men  had  been  ruined. 
They  did  not  seem  to  sympathize  with  their  own  army  that 
was  devastating  the  land.  The  plantations  along  the  march 
were  very  beautiful,  the  houses  are  built  with  a  great  deal 
of  taste,  the  spacious  lawns  and  parks  and  cultivated  grounds 
kept  trim  and  neat.  This  is  the  season  for  cultivating 
cotton,  and  hosts  of  slaves  were  in  the  fields,  stopping  work 
and  running  to  the  fences  to  see  us  pass,  and  to  chaff  with 
the  men.  They  understand  just  as  well  what  is  going  on  as 
their  masters.  They  seem  fat  and  happy  enough,  but  are 
pretty  ragged.  Suffering  will  be  rife,  however,  through 
whatever  regions  these  armies  pass,  and  the  South  will  groan 
at  the  desolation  of  its  land.  Bitterly,  bitterly,  will  they 
rue  the  grievous  sins  they  have  committed,  but  never  again 
will  they  be  forced  into  union.  The  United  States  no  longer 
exist,  between  the  North  and  the  South  is  a  great  gulf  fixed, 
and  the  hearts  of  the  people  will  never  bridge  it.  We  may 


Letters  2 1  7 

conquer,  but  never  subdue.  Their  lands  are  beautiful,  their 
climate  lovely,  fruits  and  flowers,  and  magnificent  forest 
trees.  The  holly  and  the  pine,  the  live  oak,  the  mimosa, 
the  bay,  the  magnolia,  are  grand,  and  the  mocking  bird  and 
thrush  make  them  vocal.  The  people  are  strong  in  intellect, 
but  enervated  in  body.  The  women  are  pretty,  but  pale. 
After  all,  perhaps  Providence  is  working  out  some  great 
design  through  the  agency  of  this  bloody  war.  It  is  a 
strange  fact  that  our  Northern  men  stand  the  effects  of  the 
climate  better  than  those  to  the  manner  born.  Perhaps  a 
new  infusion  of  better  blood  will  regenerate.  .  .  .  I  have 
this  moment,  even  as  I  write,  received  an  order  to  hold  my 
troops  in  readiness  to  march  towards  Memphis  at  two 
o'clock  this  day.  It  is  now  twelve  M.  So  you  see  there  is 
but  little  time  for  private  griefs  or  private  joys.  This  is  one 
great  drawback  to  comfort  in  the  army,  you  never  know 
what  will  happen  to  you  the  next  moment,  and  no  sooner 
do  you  begin  to  rejoice  that  your  "  lines  are  cast  in  pleas 
ant  places, ' '  than  you  are  ordered  off,  you  know  not  where. 
I  keep  Stephen  worried  out  of  his  wits.  ...  I  entered 
the  army  the  Qth  day  of  last  September,  nearly  ten  months 
have  past.  In  all  that  time  I  have  never  been  absent  from 
my  post  one  single  day  or  night. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  IN?., 
CAMP  NEAR  Moscow,  TENN.,  Sunday,  June  29,  1862. 

My  last  letter  to  you  was  dated  from  L,agrange  yester 
day  week,  and  written  so  hurriedly,  for  I  was  just  on  the 
eve  of  march,  that  I  think  it  must  have  been  unintelligible. 
We  are  so  hurried  from  point  to  point,  the  mails  so  uncer 
tain,  and  facilities  and  opportunity  for  writing  so  scant,  that 
it  really  becomes  a  task,  or  rather  I  should  say  enterprise 
hard  to  succeed  in,  the  getting  of  a  letter  from  camp  to  one's 
friends.  I  wrote,  if  I  recollect,  that  we  had  marched  from 
Chewalla  to  lyagrange,  that  from  thence  my  brigade  had 
made  a  hurried  descent  upon  Holly  Springs,  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  cities  of  Mississippi,  where  we  expected  to  meet  the 
enemy  in  considerable  force  ;  that  they  fled  at  our  approach ; 


2 1 8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  that,  returning  from  that  point  to  L,agrange,  we  found 
marching  orders  for  Memphis,  for  which  march  I  was  pre 
pared  when  I  wrote  that  letter.  Our  course  lay  through  a 
country  more  fertile  and  more  highly  cultivated  than  any  we 
had  met,  but  the  weather  being  hot  and  dry,  and  the  road 
exceedingly  dusty,  our  troops  were  made  to  suffer  very 
much.  We  accomplished  nineteen  miles  the  first  day,  and 
were  halted  at  a  town  called  I^afayette.  From  thence  we 
dispatched  a  train  of  fifty  wagons  to  Memphis  for  provisions, 
our  rations  having  given  out.  These  returned  in  safety,  but 
a  train  of  cars,  which  was  started  laden  with  returning 
soldiers,  was  intercepted  by  a  force  of  cavalry,  thrown  from 
the  track,  and  Colonel  .  .  .  with  a  number  of  soldiers 
taken  prisoner.  This  circumstance,  together  with  intelli 
gence  that  Breckenridge  had  concentrated  a  force  at  Holly 
Springs,  determined  a  counter-march  with  a  view  of  attack 
ing  him  at  that  point,  and  therefore  our  troops  were  brought 
where  we  now  are,  some  ten  miles  from  Lagrange  and 
twenty-five  from  Holly  Springs,  where  we  shall  probably  go 
to-morrow. 

The  weather  is  becoming  very  warm,  many  of  my  com 
mand  are  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  heat  and  the 
privations  and  discomforts  to  which  they  are  necessarily 
subjected.  With  the  exception  of  camp  dysentery  and 
diarrhoea,  whatever  it  may  be  called,  my  own  health  is 
pretty  good.  The  bowel  complaint  is  of  a  very  singular 
nature,  and  not  to  be  combated  with  the  ordinary  remedies. 
I  have  suffered  from  it  ever  since  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  more 
or  less  at  different  times. 

Major  Fisher  has  been  very  sick,  he  is  now  convalescent. 
We  shall  have  a  summer  campaign  right  here  in  the  cotton 
states.  A  furlough  or  leave  of  absence  is  a  thing  utterly  im 
possible,  therefore  I  make  up  my  mind  to  stick  it  out.  I 
had  hoped  after  the  evacuation  of  Corinth  that  there  were 
hopes  of  a  close  of  the  war,  but  these  hopes  have  proved 
delusions.  McClellan  is  slow,  we  are  much  disappointed  in 
his  movements.  AS  a  consequence,  Beauregard  and  Breck 
enridge  are  rallying  in  the  South.  The  people  to  a  man  and 


Letters  2 1 9 

woman  are  decidedly  and  unanimously  "  Secesh."  We 
have  no  friends  here  but  the  slaves.  The  war  will  be  a  ten 
years'  war  at  the  least.  Ohio  must  lose  fifty  thousand  men 
for  her  quota  before  it  is  closed,  and  the  sooner  the  draft 
is  made  upon  her,  the  better  I  shall  be  pleased.  .  .  . 
The  war  is  terrible  in  its  effects  here.  Homes  destroyed, 
families  ruptured,  parted,  never  to  meet  again  ;  fields  and 
farms  desolated,  country  ravaged,  people  starving.  God  has 
cursed  the  land.  When  can  their  evils  be  stayed  ? 

There  are  beautiful  forests  and  broad  savannahs  here  ;  all 
fruits  and  cereals  flourish  ;  a  land  for  milk  and  honey  ;  if 
peace  could  come,  plenty  would  follow.  The  insect  life  here 
is  wonderful  ;  such  innumerable  bugs  and  spiders,  moths 
and  winged  and  crawling  things  you  never  could  imagine 
without  seeing,  while  lizards  and  chameleons,  of  all  sizes 
and  colors,  are  constantly  in  pursuit  of  their  game.  It  is  no 
unusual  thing  for  me  to  drive  the  lizards  off  my  cot  before 
I  lie  down  at  nights,  and  every  night  the  spiders  crawl  over 
me  by  myriads.  I  have  been  bitten  by  spiders  but  once  or 
twice,  and  with  no  serious  effects,  but  I  do  suffer  from  lice, 
fleas,  bedbugs,  and  wood-ticks. 

My  horses  are  all  in  tolerably  good  condition,  though  they 
miss  their  hay.  There  is  no  hay  grown  in  this  country — its 
place  is  supplied  with  blades  of  corn.  Oats  do  not  thrive 
here,  either,  and  Northern  horses  feel  the  difference.  Mine 
carry  me  very  well  notwithstanding,  up  to  this  time. 

I  like  your  strictures  upon  the  newspapers,  and  am  glad 
you  understand  them.  Newspaper  articles,  unless  they  ap 
pear  over  the  signatures  of  well-known  and  perfectly  respon 
sible  parties,  are  regarded  by  the  army,  both  officers  and 
privates,  worthless  for  information  upon  any  current  event, 
especially  matters  connected  with  the  service.  Mere  puffs, 
they  generally  emanate  from  paid  correspondents  or  scrib 
blers,  whose  object  is  to  write  a  man  into  notoriety,  as  they 
would  publish  a  patent  medicine  or  advertise  a  sale  at 
auction. 

You  would  all  doubtless  like  to  know  more  of  me  and  my 


22O  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

surroundings  than  I  have  it  in  my  power  to  write.  The 
faculty  of  description  and  vigor  of  memory  may  make  many 
a  fortune  for  the  striving  actor  in  scenes  such  as  these  tran 
spiring  about  me.  Every  day  is  an  incident,  every  night  in 
reality  a  dream  of  romance.  The  moonlight,  the  forest,  the 
bugle,  the  sentry,  the  alarm,  the  march,  stealthy  and  cat 
like,  stealing  on  the  foe,  or  with  loud  alarm  of  drum  and 
fife  and  flaunting  of  flag,  dashing  down  to  intimidate  ;  the 
bivouac,  the  encampment,  the  gathering  around  the  camp 
fires,  the  bottle,  the  pipe,  the  tale,  the  jest,  all  that  you  read 
of  in  novels,  only  a  good  deal  more  so,  all  these  are  my  daily 
life.  If  one  battle  would  suffice,  but  many  and  many  a  battle 
must  be  fought,  rivers  of  blood  must  yet  flow,  before  we  can 
herald  peace. 

Well,  dear  children,  Mamma  will  read  this  letter  or  a  part 
of  it  to  you,  and  while  reading  it,  you  must  reflect  that 
father  is  far  down  South  on  the  line  between  Tennessee  and 
Mississippi,  in  a  large  forest,  on  the  banks  of  Wolf  River,  in 
a  hot  climate,  where  the  cotton  grows  ;  that  he  is  sitting 
under  the  shade  of  his  tent,  writing  to  you,  surrounded  by 
soldiers,  and  all  the  pomp  and  panoply  of  war,  that  he  is 
battling  or  about  going  into  battle  to  secure  you  the  same 
rights  and  the  same  good  government  that  was  secured  to 
him  and  his  fathers  by  our  Revolutionary  forefathers,  and 
you  must  pray  for  the  success  of  his  cause,  and  for  his  de 
liverance  from  the  evil,  and  if  he  should  fall  in  the  battle, 
you  must  pray  for  the  good  of  his  soul,  but  always  be  tender 
and  kind  to  your  mother,  your  aunt,  your  teachers  and 
friends. 

God  bless  you  all. 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  I., 

CAMP  NEAR  Moscow,  July  10,  1862. 

.  .  .  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  from  this  point  about  the 
first  inst,  which  I  entrusted  to  a  division  train  going  to 
Memphis.  This  train  was  attacked  by  the  enemy's  cavalry 
and  a  sharp  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  they  had  twenty-eight 
killed.  We  lost  eighteen,  and  what  the  fate  of  my  letter  is 
I  do  not  know.  If  the  ' '  Secesh  ' '  get  it  I  trust  they  will  find  its 


Letters  2  2 1 

perusal  interesting.  We  have  been  marching  and  counter 
marching  until  our  troops  are  well-nigh  done  out.  Water 
is  hard  to  be  got  in  this  country  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
and  we  suffer  very  much  from  thirst  and  the  heat  of  the  sun. 
Although  fatigued,  my  health  continues  good,  but  my  duties 
are  very  arduous.  You  can  have  no  conception  of  the  suffer 
ing  attendant  upon  a  march  of  a  whole  division  with  three 
or  four  batteries  of  artillery,  over  these  roads.  There  has 
been  no  rain  for  a  long  time  ;  as  the  train  proceeds  the  dust 
rises  and  the  whole  heavens  for  miles  in  extent  are  obscured, 
the  light  of  the  sun  dimmed,  while  the  atmosphere  becomes 
so  thick  that  one  can  scarcely  breathe.  We  commence  our 
march  at  about  four  o'clock,  halt  about  ten,  or  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  going  to  camp  about  ten.  Camp  for  me  is 
simply  to  dismount  at  the  tree  under  which  I  propose  to  lie. 
There  I  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep. 

I  have  this  moment  received  orders  to  march  and  must 
close  here.  .  .  . 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.V.  INF., 

CAMP  "  JUPITER  AMMON,"  July  n,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  am  here  at  an  important  point  on  the  State  line  of  Missis 
sippi  and  Tennessee  at  what  is  called  "  Ammon's  Bridge." 
I  have  a  separate  command  of  infantry,  artillery,  and  cavalry 
under  my  sole  control,  so  that  for  the  present  I  feel  pretty  in 
dependent.  I  conduct  my  camp  as  I  please  and  scout  and 
patrol  the  country  to  suit  myself.  I  came  down  for  an  en 
gagement  with  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  known  as ' '  Jackson's 
Cavalry, ' '  but  they  would  not  stay  for  me.  It  has  been  my 
constant  ill  fortune  always  to  fail  in  getting  an  engagement 
when  I  have  been  alone  in  command.  I  have  been  in  plenty 
of  skirmishes,  but  never  in  one  on  my  own  hook. 

The  first  opportunity  I  ever  had  for  distinction,  was  when 
I  made  the  march  through  the  swamp  to  "  Gauss  "  just  two 
days  before  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and  of  which  I  gave  you  de 
scription.  I  went  down  alone  with  my  regiment  to  trap  a 
body  of  cavalry,  passing  at  night  six  miles  beyond  our  own 


222  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

lines  and  within  one  half  mile  of  the  enemies'  camp.  We 
lay  in  sight  of  their  camp  fires  all  night  and  could  hear  them 
talking.  I  was  balked  in  my  manoeuvre,  however,  by  delay 
on  the  part  of  the  5th  Ohio  Cavalry,  who  had  been  detailed 
to  act  in  concert  with  me,  but  who  failed  in  keeping  time, 
and  my  quarry  made  its  escape  by  another  ford.  I  feel 
anxious  to  fight  one  battle  of  my  own.  All  this  is  uninter 
esting  to  you,  of  course.  I  am  encamped  now  at  a  very 
pretty  place.  The  woods  right  on  the  banks  of  Wolf  River 
that  abounds  with  fish  ;  and  it  is  a  swift-running  stream  with 
sandy  bottom.  I  have  also  a  remarkably  fine  cold  spring, 
giving  abundance  of  delicious  water,  and  here  I  expect  to 
stay  for  some  days.  I  hope  to  recuperate,  for  I  have  been 
much  troubled  with  diarrhoea,  which  I  fear  has  become 
chronic.  I  have  never  been  relieved  even  for  a  day  since 
the  affair  at  Shiloh  ;  save  this  trouble,  my  health  is  fair. 
The  weather  is  becoming  very  warm,  we  can  only  make 
marches  early  in  the  morning  or  late  in  the  evening.  Our 
horses  wilt  down — nothing  but  negroes  and  slaves  can  stand 
labor  in  this  climate.  On  my  last  march  to  Holly  Springs,  I 
was  encamped  for  four  days  just  on  the  edge  of  a  large  cotton 
field.  In  that  vicinity  cotton  has  been  the  great  crop,  but  this 
year  there  as  elsewhere  the  cotton  fields  have  mostly  been 
planted  with  corn.  The  corn  here  is  very  large,  tasseled 
out,  roasting  ears,  almost  ripe.  Blue  grass,  herd  grass, 
clover,  or  timothy  won't  grow  here.  Oats  and  wheat  hardly 
worth  gathering,  but  potatoes,  corn,  cotton,  sweet  potatoes 
and  fruits  of  all  kinds,  particularly  peaches  and  apples,  thrive 
wonderfully.  I  never  saw  such  blackberries  as  I  have  seen 
here,  growing  on  vines  twenty  feet  or  more  high,  so  high 
that  the  topmost  branches  could  not  be  reached  by  a  man  on 
horseback,  and  the  berry  almost  fabulous  in  size,  an  inch 
and  a  half  long,  perfectly  sweet  and  without  core.  A  man 
could  easily  pick  half  a  bushel  in  an  hour,  and  I  suppose  we 
had  twenty  bushels  a  day  brought  into  camp  while  near  the 
patch.  Almost  all  our  Northern  fruits,  I  doubt  not,  would 
grow  with  equal  profusion  if  properly  cultivated  here. 
Most  of  the  people  I  meet  here  are  well  bred,  but  not  always 
well  educated.  They  are  invariably  and  persistently  seces- 


Letters  223 

sion  in  their  politics,  but  generally  opposed  to  the  war.  It 
is  absurd  to  think  of  conquering  an  union,  and  I  believe  that 
an  attempt  to  subjugate  these  people  will  be  equally  futile. 
There  is  a  bitterness,  a  rancor  of  hostility,  particularly  on 
the  part  of  their  women  and  children,  of  which  you  can  have 
no  conception.  I  have  never  for  one  moment  changed  my 
views  in  this  regard,  so  often  expressed  to  you,  and  in  your 
hearing,  before  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities.  The  war  will 
teach  them  to  respect  the  courage  of  the  North,  but  it  has 
made  two  peoples,  and  millions  of  lives  must  be  sacrificed 
before  its  termination.  Governor  Tod  has  appealed  to  the 
people  of  Ohio  for  five  thousand.  He  had  better  go  to  draft 
ing.  Ohio  must  contribute  fifty  thousand,  and  those  right 
speedily.  The  resources  of  this  country  have  always  been 
underrated  ;  this  is  another  absurdity.  Their  people  live 
far  better  than  we  in  Ohio  out  of  the  cities.  I  know  this  to 
be  a  fact,  for  I  am  daily  an  eye-witness.  A  man  here  with 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  acres  is  a  prince.  His  slaves  fare 
better  than  our  working  farmers.  His  soil  is  more  kindly, 
his  climate  better,  and  better  than  all,  he  understands  the 
science  of  living.  He  enjoys  life  more  than  we  do,  and  so  do 
his  wife  and  children  ;  and  they  all  know  this.  They  are  de 
termined  to  be  independent,  and  they  will  be.  There  is  no 
house  I  go  to  but  where  I  find  the  spinning  wheel  and  loom 
at  work.  Their  hills  are  covered  with  sheep  and  cattle, 
their  valleys  literally  seas  of  corn.  As  long  as  the  North 
erner's  foot  is  on  the  soil  just  so  long  there  will  be  some  one 
to  dispute  its  possession,  inch  by  inch,  and  meanwhile  they 
will  find  resources  for  themselves  in  food  and  raiment.  It  is 
a  magnificent  country,  such  timber  I  never  saw.  The  white 
oaks  would  gladden  the  eyes  of  the  Coleraine  coopers.  I 
have  noticed  many  a  one  eight,  perhaps  nine  feet  in  diame 
ter  at  the  base,  straight,  rifted,  and  running  up  without 
catface  or  flaw,  sixty,  seventy,  eighty  feet  to  the  first  limb  ; 
beeches,  hickory,  holly,  chestnut,  all  in  the  same  propor 
tions  ;  and  that  most  gorgeous  and  beautiful  tree,  the  mag 
nolia,  in  all  its  pride  of  blossom,  each  bloom  perfect  in 
beauty,  velvety  in  leaf  and  blossom  and  fragrant  as  the  spicy 
gales  from  Araby,  or  a  pond  lily  or  attar  of  roses,  or  a  fresh 


224  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

pineapple,  any  or  all  combined,  the  tree  graceful  and  majes 
tic,  proud  in  bearing  so  lovely  a  bloom.  The  flora  of  the 
country  is  truly  beautiful.  I  am  not  enough  of  a  botanist  to 
know,  nor  have  I  the  memory  to  bear  in  mind  the  name  of 
the  plants  I  do  know,  that  are  made  to  bloom  in  our  green 
houses,  and  here  grow  wild  ;  but  through  the  woods  and 
along  the  roadside  many  and  many  a  one  I  see  growing  in 
wild  and  splendid  luxuriance,  wasting  their  blushes  and 
' '  fragrance  on  the  desert  air, ' '  that  a  prince  might  envy  and 
covet  for  his  garden.  I  do  not  remember  whether  I  made 
mention  to  you  of  the  azalias  that  were  just  bursting  into 
bloom  on  the  6th  and  yth  of  April,  and  that  while  sore 
pressed  in  the  heat  of  battle,  I  was  absurd  enough  to  gather 
a  handful  of  them  ;  but  so  it  was.  The  whole  woods  at  a 
certain  part  of  the  battlefield  were  bedecked  with  them  and 
the  whole  air  laden  with  their  perfume.  Col.  Tom  Worth- 
ington  got  off  a  very  pretty  poem  about  the  subject. 

Kiss  all  my  dear  little  ones  and  read  them  my  letters,  that 
is,  if  you  can  manage  to  decipher  the  pencil.  Some  day, 
perhaps,  if  God  spares  our  lives,  I  shall  be  able  to  entertain 
them  with  stories  of  my  campaign  in  the  sunny  South,  tell 
them  of  the  beautiful  singing  birds,  the  wonderful  butterflies 
and  gorgeous  beetles,  of  the  planter's  life  and  of  the  flocks 
of  little  niggers  all  quite  naked,  that  run  to  the  fences  and 
gaze  on  us  as  we  march  by,  and  of  the  wrenches  in  the  cotton 
field  that  throw  down  the  shovel  and  the  hoe  and  begin  to 
dance  like  Tarn  O'  Shanter  witches,  if  our  band  strikes  up  ; 
and  of  the  beautiful  broad  piazzas  and  cool  wide-spreading 
lawns  of  the  rich  planters'  houses.  Some  day  we  '11  have  a 
heap  to  talk  about. 

I  have  no  very  late  news  from  Richmond,  but  what  we 
have  got  has  had  a  tendency  to  depress  our  spirits  a  good 
deal.  We  feel  McClellan  will  be  outgeneralled  after  all.  If 
he  does  not  succeed  in  taking  Richmond,  we  are  in  for  a  ten 
years'  war  at  least.  Some  of  those  poor  people  in  the  South 
are  heartily  sick  of  it,  while  we  shall  plant  their  soil  thick 
with  graves  of  our  own  dead. 


Letters  225 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  v.  INF., 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  July  28,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 


I  wonder  sometimes  that  I  do  not  lose  myself  in  the  fre 
quent  Sittings  I  have  made  ;  as  to  the  properties,  the  belong 
ings,  they  are  narrowed  down  to  the  smallest  possible 
compass.  My  little  leather  travelling  trunk  is  my  bed, 
board,  lodging,  library,  and  secretary.  Its  key  long  disap 
peared  ;  and  as  it  is  strapped  up,  I  bid  an  affectionate  adieu  to 
all  its  contents,  in  the  firm  belief  that  I  shall  never  see  them 
again. 

Soldiers  are  great  thieves  on  principle  ;  when  they  can't 
steal  from  the  enemy,  they  circumvent  each  other  to  keep  in 
practice,  taking  that  which,  ' '  not  enriching  them, ' '  causes, 
in  its  loss,  their  comrades  to  swear  worse  than  ' '  our  army 
in  Flanders."  One  by  one  my  shirts,  drawers,  socks, 
gloves,  boots,  handkerchiefs,  books  have  disappeared.  The 
last  theft  committed  upon  me  was  amusing  from  its  bold 
ness.  We  were  encamped  on  the  edge  of  an  immense  cotton 
field  near  a  grove  before  "  Holly  Springs,"  on  our  second 
march  there,  when  we  shelled  the  city.  It  was  terribly  hot ; 
I  was  longing  for  something  to  read,  when  Stephen  most 
opportunely  produced  from  his  bag  a  most  excellent  copy  of 
Byron,  that  I  had  taken  from  Bragg' s  quarters  at  Corinth. 
I  had  entirely  forgotten  the  book,  which  the  boy  had  boned 
for  his  own  use,  and  was  overjoyed  to  get  hold  of  anything 
to  relieve  ennui  and  the  deadly  tedium  of  waiting  orders 
with  the  thermometer  at  an  hundred  and  upwards,  so  I  seized 
' '  My  Lord, ' '  and  forthwith  repaired  to  a  log  in  the  shade  ; 
but  just  as  I  was  composing  myself  to  read,  a  chattering 
above  made  me  look  up  to  see  a  fox  squirrel  and  a  jay  bird 
fight.  I  drew  my  pistol,  aimed  at  the  squirrel,  and  in  that 
brief  moment  the  book  was  spirited  away  by  some  lurking 
vagabond  who  probably  sold  it  for  a  glass  of  grog.  For  three 
long  summer  days  I  cursed  that  thief.  Last  night  our  regi 
mental  surgeon  hung  his  trousers  on  the  fence  before  his 
tent;  they  vanished  just  as  he  turned  his  back,  and  being  his 
sole  remaining  pair,  left  him  disconsolate.  I  can  tell  you 


226  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

many  an  amusing  instance  of  just  such  purloinings  as  vexa 
tious  as  they  are  ludicrous. 

Still,  barring  attack  sometimes  talked  of,  it  being  a  new 
base  of  operations,  I  think  we  shall  hardly  begin  a  fall  cam 
paign  before  the  last  of  September  or  the  first  of  October.  I 
also  acknowledged  receipt  of  your  most  affectionate  letter  of 
the  4th  inst.,  found  here  with  quite  a  budget  of  mail.  You 
say  you  look  only  for  Halleck's  army.  Events  multiplying 
and  succeed  with  lightning-like  rapidity.  Since  the  date  of 
your  letter  Halleck  has  been  given  in  charge  of  all  the  armies 
of  the  Union,  et  nous  verrons. 

The  result  of  this  struggle  no  human  mind  can  foretell ; 
the  farther  I  penetrate  the  bowels  of  this  Southern  land,  the 
more  fully  I  am  convinced  that  its  inhabitants  are  a  people 
not  to  be  whipped.  The  unanimity  of  feeling  among  them 
is  wonderful.  The  able-bodied  men  are  all  in  the  army. 
We  find  none  en  route  but  the  old,  the  feeble,  the  sick,  the 
women.  These  last  dauntless  to  the  last.  Those  the  army 
have  left  behind  have  learned  that  there  is  nothing  for  them 
to  fear  from  us.  We  shower  gold  and  benefits  which  they 
accept  with  a  greed  and  rapacity  .  .  . 

Children  are  reared  to  curse  us.  The  most  strange  and 
absurd  stories  are  told  of  us,  and  stranger  still,  they  are  be 
lieved.  I  have  been  gazed  at  as  if  I  were  a  wild  beast  in  a 
menagerie.  The  slaves  thought  we  were  black.  We  are 
scorned,  though  feared,  hated,  maligned.  Seventeen  hun 
dred  people  have  left  Memphis  within  three  days  rather  than 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Reaving,  they  have  sacrificed 
estate,  wealth,  luxury,  and  the  majority  of  them  have  gone 
into  the  Confederate  army.  There  is  scarce  a  lady  in  the 
city  ;  the  few  who  are  left,  our  open  and  avowed  enemies. 
We  shall  always  whip  them  in  the  open  field,  we  may  cut 
them  off  in  detail  ;  we  shall  never  by  whipping  them  restore 
the  Union.  If  some  miraculous  interposition  of  Divine 
Providence  does  not  put  an  end  to  the  unnatural  strife,  we 
shall  fight  as  long  as  there  is  a  Southerner  left  to  draw  a 
sword.  Europe  is  powerless  to  intervene.  England  may 
take  sides,  but  she  can't  grow  cotton  in  the  face  of  a  Federal 


Letters  227 

army.  France,  who  is  now  equipping  her  navies,  who  by 
similarity  of  language  and  habit  has  close  affiliations  with 
Louisiana,  who  is  eagerly  stretching  out  her  hand  for  colo 
nies,  and  to  whose  arms  the  Southern  Mississippi  planters 
would  eagerly  look  for  protection — France  must  beware  ; 
Russia  is  no  uninterested  spectator.  The  first  step  towards 
intervention  is  the  match  to  kindle  the  blaze  of  war  all  over 
Burope.  The  South  would  gladly  colonize  ;  it  is  her  only 
hope  for  redemption.  Congress  has  forced  a  new  issue. 
Slavery  is  doomed.  New  levies  must  be  forced.  Three 
hundred  thousand  men  from  the  North  will  not  obey  the 
President's  call  and  volunteer.  Drafting  on  the  one  side 
and  conscription  on  the  other.  The  result  is  plain — a  mili 
tary  dictatorship,  then  consolidation.  The  days  of  the  Re 
public  are  numbered.  But  a  little  while  and  the  strong  right 
arm  is  the  only  protection  to  property,  the  value  of  property 
existing  only  in  name. 

These  thoughts  are  gloomy,  but  I  must  confess  there  is  but 
little  to  encourage  one  who  perils  his  life  for  his  country's 
honor. 

You  flatter  me  when  you  say  my  letters  are  interesting  to 
you.  Save  to  you,  or  to  wife,  I  am  inclined  to  think  there 
would  be  found  in  these  letters  little  worth  perusal.  They 
have  almost  invariably  been  written  while  upon  the  march, 
in  bivouac,  often  behind  intrenchments,  right  in  front  of  the 
enemy,  and  only  to  reassure  you  of  my  continued  safety.  I 
continually  regret  that  the  pen  of  the  ready  writer  has  not 
been  given  me,  with  industry  commensurate.  I  might  then 
have  made  pencillings  by  the  wayside,  through  the  wilder 
ness  and  the  camp,  worth  more  than  passing  notice.  For 
four  long  months  my  life  has  been  rife  in  incident  ;  the  cir 
cumstance  that  would  have  made  an  era  to  date  from  in 
times  that  are  past,  being  so  rapidly  followed  by  one  of  more 
startling  nature,  as  to  drive  it  from  the  memory,  and  so  the 
drama  of  life  has  gone  on,  the  thrill  of  excitement  a  daily 
sensation. 

I  had  become  somewhat  familiarized  with  camp  life  and  its 
surroundings  before  I  undertook  to  recruit  my  own  regiment 


228  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

at  Camp  Dennison.  The  fall  and  winter  passed  away  quietly 
enough  in  barracks,  though  it  was  no  light  task  with  me,  to 
recruit,  organize,  and  drill  a  regiment  of  new  levies. 

Suddenly  and  before  spring  was  opened,  marching  orders 
came  and  we  found  ourselves  hurried  into  the  field,  without 
arms  or  adequate  camp  equipage.  The  first  issue  of  arms 
I  had  condemned  as  unreliable  and  returned  to  the  State 
arsenal.  Within  a  week  of  our  arrival  at  Paducah  a  detach 
ment  from  my  regiment  with  borrowed  arms  had  taken  pos 
session  of  Columbus.  There  our  colors  waved  for  the  first 
time  over  an  enemy's  fortification,  and  I  may  say,  par 
parenthese,  this  of  these  colors,  that  their  history  is  rather 
peculiar.  The  regiment  never  had  its  regimental  colors  ;  the 
flag  we  carry  was  presented  by  a  Masonic  lodge  of  Cleveland 
to  a  company  I  recruited  in  that  city.  It  floats  over  me  as 
I  write,  and  I  thank  God  is  unstained  by  dishonor.  It 
waved  at  Columbus,  at  Chickasaw  Bluff  ;  at  Shiloh  its  guard 
of  four  men  were  all  killed,  its  bearer  crushed  and  killed  by 
the  falling  of  a  tree-top,  cut  off  by  solid  shot.  The  staff  was 
broken  and  the  flag  tangled  in  the  branches  ;  there  I  dis 
mounted  for  the  first  and  only  time  during  that  day  to  rescue 
the  old  flag,  which  I  took  under  a  sheet  of  flame.  I  rode 
upon  it  the  rest  of  that  day,  slept  upon  it  at  night,  and  on 
Monday  flaunted  it  in  the  face  of  the  Crescent  City  Guards. 
The  old  flag  floated  at  Russell's  house.  We  were  in  reserve 
in  that  battle,  but  under  fire.  It  was  foremost  in  all  the 
advances  upon  Corinth,  and  the  first  planted  inside  the  in- 
trenchments.  Since  the  evacuation  of  Corinth,  on  detached 
service,  it  has  been  unfurled  at  all  the  important  points  ; 
at  Lagrange,  at  Holly  Springs,  at  Moscow,  at  Ammon's 
Bridge,  at  Lafayette,  at  Germantown,  at  White's  Station, 
and  now  at  Memphis.  But,  to  return,  we  received  our  arms 
at  Paducah,  and  were  terribly  exposed  while  encamped  there. 
From  thence  we  were  transported  on  steamboats  to  Chicka 
saw  Bluffs  on  the  celebrated  Tennessee  expedition.  For 
nine  days  we  were  crowded  close  on  small  steamboats,  and 
the  first  day  we  disembarked  were  compelled  to  wade  streams 
breast  high,  the  weather  terribly  cold.  We  were  driven 
back  by  high  water.  We  again  embarked  and  landed  at 


Letters  229 

Pittsburg  Landing.  There  my  men  began  to  feel  the  effects 
of  the  terrible  exposure  to  which  they  had  been  subjected. 
But  no  time  was  allowed  to  recuperate,  constant  and  severe 
marches  by  night  and  by  day  kept  the  army  on  the  qui  vive. 
I  can  assure  you  there  was  no  surprise  at  Shiloh.  I  made  a 
tremendous  night  march  only  the  Thursday  before,  of  which 
I  have  heretofore  given  you  some  account  ;  was  ordered  upon 
a  march  that  very  Sunday  morning,  and  was  setting  picket 
guard  till  twelve  o'clock  of  Saturday  night.  Well,  then 
came  the  great  battle  and  the  burying  of  the  dead,  and  here 
I  will  refer  you  to  an  autograph  order  of  General  Sherman 
which  I  enclose  ;  he  will  doubtless  be  a  great  man  in  time 
to  come,  and  it  wdll  be  worth  while  to  preserve  as  a 
memorial  of  the  times.  .  .  .  After  the  burial  of  the 
dead  and  a  brief  breathing  spell  in  a  charnel-house,  we 
were  ordered  forward  ;  then  came  more  skirmishing,  then 
the  advance  upon  Corinth  by  regular  parallels,  the  felling  of 
enormous  trees,  to  form  abattis,  the  ditch,  the  rampart,  often 
thrown  up  by  candle-light.  Scouting,  picketing,  advancing 
in  force,  winning  ground  inch  by  inch,  bringing  up  the  heavy 
siege  guns  ;  at  last  the  evacuation,  the  flight,  the  pursuit, 
then  the  occupation,  of  the  country.  Now  my  labors  were 
not  lessened,  though  my  responsibilities  increased.  I  was 
often  upon  detached  service,  far  awray  from  the  main  army, 
as  at  Ammon's  Bridge,  where  I  lay  for  ten  days,  and  where 
I  had  frequent  skirmishes,  taking  many  prisoners.  There 
I  made  acquaintance  with  the  planters,  and  finally,  when  I 
left,  destroyed  the  structure,  by  chopping  it  away  and  by 
burning,  bringing  upon  my  head,  doubtless,  the  anathemas 
of  all  the  country-side.  There  is  a  portion  of  Tennessee  and 
Mississippi  where  they  know  me,  and  where  I  think  my 
memory  will  be  green  for  some  time  to  come.  And  now  I 
am  at  Memphis  or  rather  in  the  suburbs,  that  I  assure  you 
are  beautiful.  The  shrubbery  is  splendidly  luxurious,  the 
most  exquisite  flowers,  magnificent  houses  and  grounds  and 
a  splendid  country  about  it.  I  do  not  wronder  its  people  have 
made  boast  of  their  sunny  South  ;  no  more  beautiful  land  is 
spread  out  to  the  sun,  but  now  devastation  and  ruin  stares 
it  in  the  face.  I  have  met  but  few  of  the  people,  those  I 


230  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

have  seen  are  sufficiently  polite  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  we  are 
not  welcome  guests,  that  the  Union  sentiment  expressed,  is 
expressed  pro  hac  vice.  If  I  stay  here  long  I  will  write  you 
more  about  them.  Thus  you  have  a  brief  synopsis  of  the 
history  of  my  regiment  in  the  field  ;  unfortunately,  it  has  no 
historian  in  its  ranks  ;  all  connected  with  it  have  been  satis 
fied  with  doing  their  duty,  without  recording  their  acts. 
Thus  while  we  see  in  every  paper,  officers  and  regiments 
lauded  and  praised,  the  most  insignificant  performances 
magnified  into  glowing  acts  of  heroism,  the  most  paltry 
skirmishes  into  great  battles,  we  find  ourselves  unknown.  I 
do  not  regard  courage  in  battle  as  a  very  extraordinary 
quality,  but  fortitude  on  the  march  and  in  the  trenches,  in 
the  endurance  of  the  thousand  vicissitudes  that  attach  to 
such  a  campaign  as  we  have  gone  through,  is  above  all  praise. 
My  men,  now  sadly  reduced  in  numbers — for  dysentery, 
diarrhoea,  camp  fever,  exposure,  to  say  nothing  of  wounds, 
have  done  their  work — have  shown  this  fortitude  in  a  superior 
degree.  They  have  been  a  forlorn  hope,  have  always  led  the 
van,  have  never  missed  a  march,  a  battle,  or  a  skirmish,  but 
their  history  will  never  be  written,  the  most  of  them  will  go 
to  their  graves  unhonored  and  unsung.  But  I  am  wearying 
you  with  too  long  a  letter,  written  not  under  the  most  favor 
able  auspices.  I  enclose  you  a  report  from  Sherman  partly 
mutilated  before  I  received  it. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  July  22,  1862. 

I  seize  the  earliest  opportunity  to  advise  you  of  my  safe 
arrival  at  this  point,  now  in  occupation  by  the  troops  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  as  you  have  probably  ere  this  learned  through 
the  newspapers.  Our  last  marches  have  been  tedious  and 
the  troops  have  suffered  much  from  the  heat  of  the  weather. 
You  may  judge  of  the  intensity  of  the  heat  when  I  tell  you 
that  as  we  marched  our  Brigade  through  the  streets  of 
Memphis  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  yesterday  the 
mercury  stood  at  102  degrees  in  the  shade.  To-day  is 


Letters  231 

cloudy  and  somewhat  cooler,  a  fortunate  thing  for  me,  for  as 
Division  Officer  of  the  Day  it  becomes  my  duty  to  set  all  the 
pickets,  which  will  involve  hard  riding  all  day  and  night. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

MEMPHIS.  July  23,  1862. 
MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 

I  seize  the  briefest  moment  to  advise  you  of  my  health  and 
well  being. 

We  marched  into  Memphis  day  before  yesterday  ;  shall 
occupy  the  city  and  probably  remain  for  some  time.  This 
will  be  the  new  base  of  operations.  I  found  a  heavy  mail 
waiting  me,  and  among  my  letters  was  overjoyed  to  see 
one  from  you.  You  may  well  be  sure  it  was  the  first  I  tore 
open  to  read,  and  it  was  read  before  I  had  dismounted, 
though  I  had  been  in  the  saddle  without  food  or  drink  since 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  it  was  twelve  meridian, 
under  as  hot  a  sun  as  you  can  conceive  it  possible  for  one  to 
exist  under.  The  mercury  stood  at  ioi°in  the  shade  that 
morning  at  seven  o'clock.  The  only  evil  result  of  that  day's 
march,  however,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  is  the  loss  of  the 
skin  of  my  nose,  which  was  completely  peeled  off.  I  can't 
answer  your  affectionate  letter  now,  but  will  do  so  in  a  day 
or  two,  if  I  can  get  an  hour's  leisure.  I  have  been  constantly 
on  the  go,  our  troops  are  not  }^et  encamped,  and  as  Officer 
of  the  Day,  my  duties  have  been  exceedingly  onerous. 

I  should  be  glad  to  come  home,  but  a  furlough  is  a  thing 
impossible  ;  Sherman  won't  listen  to  a  request  even  from  a 
sick  or  dying  man  ;  certainly  not  from  one  who  is  at  all  use 
ful  in  the  service.  Bven  if  it  could  be  obtained,  I  should 
not  like  to  take  a  furlough  now  for  many  reasons.  I  ain  in 
for  the  war  and  the  war  will  be  a  long  one. 

Memphis  has  been  an  opulent  city,  laid  out  in  magnificent 
proportions,  containing  superb  houses,  elegant  grounds,  etc. 
The  people  who  are  left  are  almost  all  "  Secesh."  The 
males  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years  are 


232  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

ordered  off ;  to-morrow  is  their  last  day  of  grace  ;  consterna 
tion,  of  course,  prevails.  The  headquarters  are  besieged 
with  ladies  asking  protection  for  themselves  and  families  ;  a 
very  large  proportion  of  them  are  wives  of  officers  in  the 
Confederate  army.  They  are  all  bitter  as  snakeroot,  but 
nevertheless  demand,  not  ask,  that  protection  their  natural 
protectors  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  give. 

Few  of  these  can  yet  realize  that  war  has  now  commenced 
in  right  good  earnest  ;  that  hereafter  desolation  and  havoc 
will  follow  the  wake  of  our  army.  Heretofore  we  have 
preached  peace,  and  sought  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country  through  which  we  have  marched,  even  upon  the 
battlefield,  to  cultivate  friendly  relations,  warring  only  with 
the  men-at-arms,  fighting  to-day  with  the  owners  of  the 
property  which  we  detail  forces  to  protect  to-morrow.  Our 
famishing  and  thirsty  soldiers  as  they  toiled  under  the  burn 
ing  sun  in  the  summer  days'  march  have  been  prevented 
almost  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  from  assuaging  their  thirst 
at  the  roadside  well,  from  pulling  an  onion  from  the  garden 
or  seizing  an  apple  from  the  bough  on  the  premises  of  the 
men  armed  and  after  their  heart's  best  blood.  Now  this  will 
all  be  changed.  We  shall  "  burn,  sink,  and  destroy  !  "  We 
shall  teach  these  ingrates  that  we  can  punish  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  that  we  can  not  only  meet  and  vanquish  them  on  the 
field,  but  that  we  have  the  nerve  and  the  will  to  sweep  them 
and  all  they  hold  dear  clean  off  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

I  hear  they  are  most  thoroughly  panic-stricken  in  Cincin 
nati  ;  that  the  enemy  have  been  encamped  at  Florence,  only 
nine  miles  in  front,  and  that  they  have  some  reasons  to  ex 
pect  a  raid. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  o.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Aug.  8,  1862. 


Your  letter  of  the  ist  inst.  has  just  been  received.  I  can 
not  understand  why  eight  days  should  be  consumed  in  the 
transit  of  mail  matter  when  the  individual  requires  only  two 
to  pass  over  the  same  ground.  The  army,  however,  is 


Letters  233 

always  scolding  the  mails,  and  perhaps  without  reason.     We 
ought  to  be  thankful  for  any  intelligence,  however  tardy. 

Our  tents  are  pitched  in  pleasant  places  near  the  city, 
plenty  of  shade  and  pure  water.  The  health  of  my  men 
would  improve  if  they  would  practise  self-denial  in  food  ;  but 
the  temptation  in  the  shape  of  green  corn,  fresh  fruit  and 
vegetables  is  too  much  for  their  frail  nature  to  withstand. 
If  I  can  get  them  safely  through  September,  they  will  be  in 
good  training  for  a  fall  and  winter  campaign.  My  own 
diarrhoea  has  never  left  me — I  suppose  never  will.  I  have 
lost  flesh  and  strength,  but  I  do  not  suffer  save  from  the  in 
convenience  and  loss  of  rest  at  night.  Sometimes  it  is 
checked  slightly,  but  I  think  it  is  chronic  and  beyond  the 
power  of  medicine.  No  furloughs  or  leaves  of  absence  are 
granted  from  this  division  of  the  army,  on  account  of  sick 
ness  or  for  any  other  cause.  I  have  asked  furloughs  for 
officers  and  men  who  have  died,  and  whose  lives,  I  am 
assured  by  the  surgeons,  might  have  been  saved  by  change 
of  air  and  alleviation  from  the  miseries  of  the  camp,  but 
never  with  any  success.  I  would  not  ask  a  furlough  for 
myself,  I  would  not  take  one  if  offered  ;  but  it  would  be 
worse  than  useless  to  ask.  It  will  be  long  before  I  shall  see 
family  or  friend.  This  hard,  pitiless  war  will  never  come  to 
an  end  in  my  lifetime.  Last  night  three  of  my  officers,  who 
were  badly  wounded  at  Shiloh,  returned.  Two  of  them  were 
shot  very  severely,  one  having  his  kidney,  lung,  and  liver 
pierced  with  a  Minie-ball  ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  he  is  here 
to-day  reported  for  duty,  while  men  who  got  only  flesh 
wounds  died.  I  thought  they  would  not  return  to  their 
regiment,  but  they  felt  the  peculiar  fascination  that  few  are 
able  to  resist.  Their  welcome  by  their  old  comrades  in  arms 
was  very  affecting.  Strong  men  embraced  and  wept.  Those 
who  had  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  during  the  two  terrible 
days  of  that  bloody  battle,  were  hooped  with  steel,  with  bands 
stronger  than  steel  ;  and  those  who  might  have  been  dis 
charged,  the  scars  of  whose  honorable  wounds  were  yet  raw, 
forsook  friends  and  the  comforts  of  home  to  come  to  their 
regiment,  to  the  society  of  their  companions.  This  is  the 
great  impelling  feeling,  though  duty,  patriotism,  and 


234  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

"  death's  couriers,  Fame  and  Honor,  called  them  to  the  field 
again."  No  officer  whose  honor  is  dear  to  him  can  be  away 
now  ;  absence  from  post  is  a  burning  shame  and  will  be  a 
lasting  disgrace. 

It  is  not  probable  that  Sherman  will  be  ordered  to  Vicks- 
burg  for  some  time,  if  at  all.  Meanwhile  the  drill  and  the 
discipline  of  the  troops  is  rigidly  enforced.  Brig. -Gen. 
Morgan  L,.  Smith,  under  whose  command  the  "54th"  is 
brigaded,  is  a  martinet  almost  to  tyranny. 

I  do  not  deem  it  beyond  the  range  of  the  probabilities  of 
this  war  that  Cincinnati  be  attacked.  Buell  will  have  his 
hands  full  to  prevent  it.  The  city  would  be  a  tempting 
prize  to  soldiers. 

You  had  better  have  an  eye  on  this  matter  in  the  making 
of  your  fall  arrangements.  I  don't  want  to  write  that  which 
will  give  you  uneasiness.  I  do  not  regard  it  as  at  all  certain 
that  Bragg  would  push  his  columns  up  between  Curtis  and 
Buell  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  disaffec 
tion  in  Kentucky.  If  Richmond  is  evacuated — and  disease 
and  want  of  commissary  stores  may  compel  this — then  des 
perate  men  in  large  guerilla  bands  may  precipitate  them 
selves  upon  a  city  so  far  as  I  know  undefended.  The  South 
is  a  united  people  ;  they  have  over  one  million  and  a  half  of 
fighting  men,  their  soldiers  are  better  drilled  and  better  dis 
ciplined  than  ours,  they  are  better  armed  and  fight  as  well, 
and  above  all  it  is  far  easier  for  them  to  keep  their  regiments 
filled  up  to  the  maximum  number,  than  it  is  for  us.  Every 
man,  who  is  able  to  fight,  is  willing  to  fight.  The  women, 
the  children,  the  old,  the  feeble,  take  pride  in  the  army,  and 
cheer  those  on  to  glory  whom  they  think  are  winning  it  in 
the  defence  of  their  homes,  their  firesides,  and  the  heritage 
of  their  fathers. 

I  saw  a  sweet  little  girl  the  other  day  the  very  image  of 
Bettie  and  very  much  like  her  in  manners  ;  of  course  I 
courted  and  petted  her,  notwithstanding  she  was  a  most  bit 
ter  little  "  Secesh."  It  was  most  amusing  to  hear  her  phi- 


Letters  235 

lippics,  but  I  could  not  help  loving  her  for  Bettie's  sake,  and 
the  little  witch,  as  evidence  that  I  had  won  her  favor,  though 
a  "  Yank,''  came  with  her  father  to  my  camp.  She  is  the 
first  child  I  have  spoken  to  for  six  long  months,  if  I  make 
an  exception  of  the  occasional  pickaninny,  an  insect  with 
which  this  sunny  South  abounds.  It  was  very  amusing  on 
the  march  to  see  whole  flocks  of  them,  generally  nude,  by 
the  roadside  in  the  care  of  some  ancient  mother  of  the  herd. 

Enclosed  please  find  an  effusion  from  the  pen  of  Col.  Tom 
Worthington,  a  brother  of  the  General,  with  whom  I  have 
become  quite  intimate  ;  the  lines  were  almost  if  not  quite 
impromptu,  written  and  handed  me  just  after  the  battle, 
though  since,  I  believe,  published.  The  allusion  to  the 
azalia  is  very  happy  ;  the  whole  air  was  redolent  with  their 
perfume  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  and  more  than  once  I 
caught  a  handful  of  them,  while  my  horse  was  treading 
among  the  dead. 

This  afternoon  I  am  invited  to  a  grand  review  of  the  8th 
Missouri,  and  to  meet  all  the  field  officers  of  the  division  at 
General  Sherman's  headquarters.  Within  two  or  three  days 
we  present  General  Sherman  with  a  sword,  and  I  am  ex 
pected  to  make  the  presentation  speech  at  a  grand  dinner,  at 
which  I  suppose  nearly  all  the  officers,  certainly  all  the  field 
and  staff,  will  be  present.  As  I  remarked  of  General  Smith, 
so  Sherman  is  a  martinet,  but  he  is  a  soldier,  every  inch, 
and  as  brave  as  they  make  them.  I  fought  by  his  side  all 
day  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  dark  on  Monday, 
sat  by  him  when  his  horse  was  shot,  and  saw  his  hand  grazed 
by  a  cannon  ball.  He  's  every  inch  a  soldier  and  a  gentle 
man  and  a  chieftain.  Colonel  Worthington  don't  like  him, 
which  is  strange,  for  they  are  both  West  Pointers,  but  the 
fact  is  the  Colonel  is  a  little  jealous  that  he  has  not  a  higher 
command. 

My  prince  of  horses,  Bellfounder,  is  in  splendid  health, 
his  neigh  rings  out  long  and  loud  whenever  he  sees  me. 
You  shall  ride  him  if  he  ever  gets  home. 


236  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Aug.  14,  1862. 

Major  Fisher  of  my  regiment  has  been  appointed  Assistant 
Provost  Marshal  of  Memphis,  which  leaves  me  with  the 
whole  regiment  on  my  hands  without  assistance,  and  of 
course  adds  to  my  cares  and  responsibilities. 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Aug.  14,  1862. 

Your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.  was  received  two  days  ago,  and 
just  while  I  was  preparing  to  act  as  Chief  of  General  Sher 
man's  Staff  in  a  grand  review  to  be  made  of  Hurlbut's  di 
vision.  To-day  our  brigade,  which  is  considered  the  crack 
brigade  of  the  army  here,  is  to  be  received  ;  in  this  I  have, 
of  course,  to  lead  my  regiment. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INF., 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Aug.  20,  1862. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

Our  army  here  is  now  being  thoroughly  disciplined. 
Parades  and  reviews  are  of  daily  occurrence.  On  Satur 
day,  as  Chief  of  Staff  to  General  Sherman,  I  witnessed  a  fine 
review  of  General  Hurlbut's  division.  Yesterday  our  own 
brigade  was  reviewed.  It  is  considered  the  most  soldierly 
body  of  troops  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Our  Brigadier- 
General  is  a  terrible  martinet,  but  well  calculated  to  make 
good  soldiers.  I  assure  you,  a  parade  of  such  a  brigade  as 
ours  is  an  imposing  sight. 


I  send  3^ou  my  <(  carte."  Can  you  recognize  any  likeness 
to  the  little  whitehead  who  clung  round  your  knee  lang 
syne?  He  's  had  some  rough  encounters  with  the  world 
that  opened  so  bright  upon  him,  since  those  days  at  Dor 
chester.  The  image  of  his  young  mother  is  ever  before  his 
mind,  her  dear  bright  eyes  still  gaze  into  his.  He  dreams 
he  still  feels  the  impress  of  her  kiss. 


COLONEL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH, 

MEMPHIS.     1862. 


Letters  237 

CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

Sept.  13,  1862. 
MY  DKAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  just  returned  from  an  expedition  into  Mississippi 
made  by  our  brigade,  upon  forced  marches  every  day.  We 
have  had  some  skirmishing  with  guerilla  bands,  have  killed 
ten,  wounded  a  large  number,  and  taken  nearly  an  hundred 
prisoners,  with  mules,  horses,  and  other  property.  I  rode 
many  miles  for  the  past  four  days,  have  been  almost  con 
stantly  in  the  saddle,  day  and  night.  I  find  your  very  affec 
tionate  letter  of  the  3d  inst.  and  the  beautiful  poem  you  have 
written  about  the  battle.  I  will  reply  to  your  letter  at  length 
to-morrow  ;  now  have  just  time  to  acknowledge  its  receipt 
and  say  I  am  well,  for  you  are  doubtless  worried  at  not  hear 
ing  from  me.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  excitement  about 
Memphis.  We  are  expecting  reinforcements.  I  have 
changed  my  camp  some  four  miles  from  where  my  last  letter 
was  dated.  The  locality  is  a  better  one. 

Do  not  suppose  I  am  troubled  about  military  matters  ; 
your  letter  goes  to  show  an  anxiety  about  me  in  that  regard. 
If  I  cannot  have  a  brigade  of  my  own,  I  had  rather  be  bri 
gaded  under  Morgan  L,.  Smith  than  any  other  man  I  know 
of,  though  he  is  a  terribly  strict  disciplinarian.  The  brigade 
has  a  great  reputation  for  drill,  marching  and  fighting  quali 
ties,  and  is  really  the  crack  brigade  of  the  Southwestern 
army. 

I  have  unlimited  confidence  in  Sherman,  who  is  a  great 
man  and  a  great  general  ;  therefore  I  am  as  well  situated  as 
one  can  hope  to  be  in  the  volunteer  service.  It  is  only  in 
the  regular  army  where  officers  can  hope  for  comfort  or  re 
lief  from  the  thousand  vexations  and  annoyances  conse 
quent  to  a  lack  of  thorough  discipline. 

Your  lines  are  very  beautiful  ;  one  or  two  lines  not  to  be 
excelled.  I  wish  we  could  collect  all  you  have  written.  Do 
you  know  where  a  copy  can  be  had  of  the  lines  to  your 
grandmother  ? 


238  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

Sept.  13,  1862. 

MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  long  march — an  expedition 
made  by  our  entire  brigade  with  four  hundred  cavalry  and 
an  eight-gun  battery,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  certain 
important  railroad  bridges  and  tressel  work,  and  with  the 
hope  of  drawing  Breckinridge  and  his  forces  into  a  battle. 
We  had  considerable  skirmishing  with  guerilla  bands,  killed 
ten  that  we  know  of,  probably  more,  wounded  quite  a  num 
ber,  and  brought  in  some  eighty  or  ninety  prisoners.  We 
passed  through  the  town  or  city,  as  they  would  call  it  here, 
of  Hernando  ;  encamped  there  two  nights.  We  took  much 
property,  horses,  mules,  etc. ;  but  one  man  killed  and  a  few 
wounded. 

For  the  past  four  days,  I  have  spent  twenty  hours  out  of 
each  twenty-four  in  the  saddle,  and  for  the  past  week  have 
not  had  my  coat,  boots,  or  spurs  off  till  this  morning. 

We  are  informed  since  my  return  that  Stanton  has  re 
signed  and  has  been  succeeded  by  Halleck.  I  had  hopes  of 
Stanton  and  that  he  would  recollect  me.  I  shall  have  to 
wait  now  a  good  while  ;  volunteer  colonels  will  have  to  stand 
back  for  West  Point  lieutenants.  I  am  in  receipt  of  two 
New  York  papers,  Herald  and  Times,  for  which  I  am  much 
obliged.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  excitement  in  Memphis  at 
this  time.  The  whole  Southwest  is  ablaze. 


CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

Sept.  14,  1862. 

I  mentioned  that  I  had  just  returned  from  an  expedition 
into  Mississippi  in  my  letter  of  yesterday.  The  rebels  had 
become  troublesome  south  of  this  city,  on  the  route  of  the 
Tennessee  and  Mississippi  Railroad,  and  our  brigade  marched 
in  that  direction  to  check  their  depredations  and  to  seek  an 
engagement.  We  marched  about  two  thousand  strong — one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  infantry,  four  hundred 


Letters 


239 


cavalry,  and  a  battery  of  artillery.  Our  cavalry  in  advance 
came  up  with  the  enemy  on  Monday  and  had  a  sharp 
skirmish,  driving  them  back  some  two  and  a  half  miles.  I 
have  ascertained  since  my  letter  of  yesterday,  in  which  I 
make  a  somewhat  different  statement,  that  forty-one  of  the 
enemy  were  killed  and  between  seventy  and  eighty  wounded  ; 
a  number  of  prisoners  and  horses  were  taken.  We  had  one 
man  killed  and  four  wounded.  The  cavalry  afterwards 
entered  Senatobia,  an  important  point  on  the  railroad,  and 
burned  the  depot  and  cars  that  were  there,  scattering  various 
guerilla  bands  they  met  on  the  road  there  and  back.  Mean 
while,  our  main  body  destroyed  the  railroad  bridge  over 
Coldwater,  an  important  and  expensive  structure,  tore  up 
the  railroad  track  and  destroyed  all  communication  with  the 
enemy  and  Hernando.  General  Sherman  pronounces  the 
expedition  one  of  the  most  successful  and  best  conducted 
that  has  been  made  during  the  campaign  and  best  calculated 
to  check  the  operations  of  the  enemy. 


HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INE., 

CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

Sept.  23,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

This  anniversary  l  will  be  remembered  by  you  and  me, 
probably  the  most  interested  parties  to  the  transaction  it 
commemorates.  As  the  matter  is  unimportant  to  all  the 
world  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  perhaps  at  this  late  day  the 
less  we  say  about  it  the  better.  I  know  you  are  thinking 
of  me,  wherever  you  are,  or  whatever  you  may  be  doing  at 
this  very  moment,  and  by  the  present  writing  you  will  be 
assured  of  being  in  my  thoughts. 

There  are  one  or  two  facts  in  my  history  connected  with 
the  month  of  September.  All  the  important  changes  that 
have  transpired  to  me  date  in  that  month,  and  on  the  23d  I 
am  never  at  home.  I  have  no  recollection  of  passing  that 
day  with  my  family  for  very  many  years,  back  even  to  my 
childhood,  always  travelling  like  the  Wandering  Jew. 

1  His  fort37-second  birthday. 


240  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

It  is  a  good  while  since  I  have  heard  from  you  or  from 
wife.  I  suppose  mail  communication  is  in  a  great  way  sus 
pended.  I  write  letters  with  some  anxiety.  From  the 
publication  in  the  Commercial  of  igth  inst.,  I  imagine  wife 
was  in  Cincinnati  at  that  time.  I  shall  expect  soon  to  hear 
of  your  being  with  her.  The  fate  of  that  city  is  not  yet  de 
cided.  I  think  it  rests  with  Buell.  If  Bragg  outgenerals 
him,  Cincinnati  will  be  burned.  We  have  exaggerated 
rumors  of  McClellan's  success  ;  I  cannot  yet  believe  them. 
Halleck  has  massed  his  forces  and  hurled  them  upon  I^ee's 
army  in  retreat.  Massing  forces  is  Halleck' s  forte.  I  do 
not  see  now  the  annihilation  of  the  enemy's  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  That  will  have  a  strange  effect  upon  this  war. 
Then  we  shall  begin  to  change  front.  I  expect  stirring 
times  here  in  two  or  three  weeks,  not  sooner.  My  pickets 
had  a  little  brush  with  guerillas  last  night.  Guerillas  are 
utterly  contemptible  ;  they  possess  neither  honor  nor  courage. 
Save  in  light  affairs  of  this  character  and  one  expedition  into 
Mississippi,  some  account  of  which  I  gave  in  a  recent  letter 
to  dear  Helen,  my  time  has  been  actively  occupied  during 
my  sojourn  here  in  perfecting  the  drill  of  my  regiment  and 
fitting  it  for  active  service  in  the  field. 

Memphis,  as  I  have  remarked  in  former  letters,  has  been 
a  very  opulent  city.  The  centre  of  a  vast  system  of  railways, 
favorably  situated  upon  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  with  a 
splendid  landing  ;  a  great  mart  for  cotton,  the  staple  of  a 
widespread  and  most  fertile  bottom  in  Arkansas,  Mississippi, 
and  Tennessee,  by  which  it  is  immediately  surrounded  ; 
wealth  in  actual  cash,  gold,  and  bullion  from  European 
factors  has  flowed  in  upon  its  inhabitants  with  continuous 
tide  and  now  is  evidenced  by  luxury  and  taste  in  the  build 
ing,  furnishing,  and  adorning  of  their  residences  and  public 
buildings.  The  people  I  have  met  are  sufficiently  well  edu 
cated  and  refined.  All  of  course  are  intensely  Southern. 
There  are  to-day,  perhaps,  six  hundred  Union  people  in 
Memphis  to  six  thousand  secessionists  dyed  in  the  wool.  Its 
climate  is  delightful  and  the  country  about  is  remarkable  for 
its  adaptability  to  the  cultivation  of  fruits  and  flowers.  It  is 


Letters  241 

historical  ;  from  here  De  Soto  saw  for  the  first  time  the  wide 
and  turbid  stream  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  Thus  far  through 
swamp  and  wilderness  he  had  forced  his  weary  way  in  search 
of  gold  and  precious  stones.  Fort  Pickering,  now  manned 
and  armed  for  offence  and  defence,  was  the  site  of  his  first 
camp.  Immortalized  by  our  Western  artist  Powell  in  his 
painting  which  fills  the  last  panel  that  was  vacant  in  the 
rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  its  name  will  perhaps  go  down  to 
posterity  as  the  scene  of  bloody  conflict  during  the  civil  war. 
Our  history  now  is  red  in  blood,  and  scarlet  dyed  are  the 
sins  of  the  nation.  I  have  just  been  reading  Governor 
Ramsey's  proclamation  and  message  to  the  legislature  of 
Minnesota.  The  Northwestern  Indians  are  up  in  arms  to 
renew  the  massacres  that  chilled  us  with  horror  in  the 
annals  of  the  early  pioneers.  Again  is  the  reeking  scalp 
torn  from  the  living  victim's  head.  Again  is  the  unborn 
child  torn  quivering  from  its  mother's  womb  and  cast 
quivering  upon  her  pulseless  heart  ;  again  is  the  torch  ap 
plied  to  the  settler's  cabin,  the  forts  and  blockhouse  be 
sieged  by  the  ruthless  savage,  the  tomahawk  and  rifle  ever 
busied  in  their  murderous  work.  Many  hundreds  of  men, 
children,  and  women  are  known  to  have  been  butchered  in  a 
manner  too  sickening  and  revolting  to  write  about,  and  the 
homes  of  thirty  thousand  made  desolate. 

Distracted  by  civil  war  in  which  no  issue  is  fairly  made, 
harassed  by  the  savage  tribes  in  the  front  and  rear,  England 
only  waiting  for  a  salient  point — the  Republic  totters.  Wrhat 
and  when  will  be  the  end  ? 

I  did  myself  the  pleasure  of  copying  for  Helen's  benefit 
some  lines  of  wife,  which  you  have  doubtless  received  and 
read  ere  this.  They  are  the  reflex  of  her  pure  mind— chaste, 
sweet  in  expression,  and  the  surcharge  of  her  agonized  spirit. 
"  Waiting,  watching,  and  weeping,  her  heart's  blood  is  run 
ning  to  tears."  God  bless  her  and  you  ;  verily  the  evil  days 
are  upon  us.  ' '  When  the  brother  delivers  up  the  brother 
to  death,  and  the  father  the  child  ;  and  the  children  rise  up 
against  their  parents  and  cause  them  to  be  put  to  death. ' ' 

We  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars.  .  .  .  It  is  woe 
unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck 


242  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

in  these  days.  My  poor  wife  !  how  often  I  think  of  these 
prophecies  as  I  reflect  upon  her  condition,  charged  with  the 
sole  care  of  those  five  helpless  children.  God  help  and  sus 
tain  her  in  this  hour  of  trial.  You  can  now  better  under 
stand,  and  perhaps  better  than  ever  before,  why  I  wanted 
my  family,  all  I  have  on  earth,  to  love  to  be  together  to 
mutually  sustain  each  other.  No  property  in  times  like 
these,  however  vested,  is  safe.  I  could  tell  you  of  heart 
rending  instances  of  deprivation  of  property  and  its  conse 
quences  here  at  the  South.  We  are  passing  through  a  great 
revolution,  truly  ;  "  the  end  is  not  yet." 

As  servants  of  the  government,  we  do  not  know  where 
next  we  may  be  called  to  perform  service.  My  impression 
is  that  our  corps  will  be  retained  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis 
sippi  and  do  battle  to  keep  open  its  navigation.  We  shall 
probably  take  Vicksburg  and  garrison  the  principal  towns  on 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  and  up  the  Red  River.  The 
events  of  the  next  few  weeks  will  determine.  I  do  not  expect 
to  be  inactive  long.  I  hope  not.  My  horses  are  waxing  fat 
and  neigh  impatiently  in  their  stalls.  I  prefer  the  field  to 
the  camp. 

CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

2  o'clock  A.M.,  Sept.  15,  1862. 
MY   DEAR   SlSTKR  : 

At  eleven  o'clock  last  night  as  I  was  about  to  "  turn  in  " 
an  orderly  came  dashing  up  through  the  rain  with  despatches 
advising  me  that  the  Brigadier-General  commanding  had  re 
liable  information  that  our  pickets  were  to  be  attacked  this 
night  or  morning,  rather,  by  the  enemy's  cavalry,  and  order 
ing  me  to  double  my  picket  guard.  Being  some  distance 
from  our  main  army  and  my  outside  pickets  being  three  miles 
distant  from  me,  and  having  a  six-gun  battery  under  my 
command  attached  to  my  regiment,  after  giving  my  orders 
and  disposing  of  my  forces,  I  feel  indisposed  for  sleep  and 
know  not  how  I  can  better  put  in  the  residue  of  the  night 
than  by  writing  to  my  dear  sister  Helen,  whose  affectionate 
letter  of  the  8th  inst.  with  inclosure  is  now  before  me,  being 
this  day  received. 


DC       oT 
I       S 


Letters  243 

I  send  you  a  picture  of  General  Sherman  and  staff,  num 
bered  thus — 

1 .  Lieutenant  Taylor,  5th  Ohio  Cavalry,  Aide-de-Camp. 

2.  Major  J.  H.  Hammond,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

3.  Captain  Dayton,  6th  Ohio  Infantry,  Aide-de-Camp. 

4.  Major  Taylor,  of  Taylor's  Battery,  Chief  of  Artillery. 

5.  Capt.  J.  Condict  Smith,  Division  Quartermaster. 

6.  General  Sherman. 

7.  Col.  Thos.  Kilby  Smith,  of  54th  Ohio  Inf.  Zouaves. 

8.  Captain  Shirk,  U.S.N.,  Commander  of  gunboat  Lex 
ington,  which  threw  the  shells  at  Shiloh. 

9.  Major  Hartshorne,  Division  Surgeon. 

10.  Col.  W.  H.  H.  Taylor,  5th  Ohio  Cavalry. 

11.  Capt.  James  McCoy,  54th   Ohio   Inf.  Zouaves,  Aide- 
de-Camp. 

12.  Major  Sanger,  55th  Illinois  Inf.,  Aide-de-Camp. 
These,  with  two  exceptions,  were  together  and  did  service 

at  the  battle  of  Shiloh  ;  the  names  of  some  of  them  will  adorn 
the  pages  of  history.  The  Quartermaster  looms  up  among 
them  like  Saul  among  the  prophets,  a  head  and  shoulder 
above  the  rest.  He  stands  six  feet  four  and  a  half  inches 
high  in  his  stocking  feet,  and  I  have  a  private  in  the  ranks 
in  my  regiment  who  is  three  inches  taller  than  he. 

Tell  mother  she  need  not  be  alarmed  about  Sherman's 
sanity  ;  his  mind  is  sound,  his  intellect  vigorous.  He  is  a 
man  for  the  times.  His  enemies  are  seeking  to  destroy  him. 
The  whole  article  she  sends  is  replete  with  falsehood.  No 
city  in  the  Union  has  a  better  police,  is  more  accurately  gov 
erned  than  Memphis.  It  is  sufficient  for  me  to  say  to  mother 
that  the  whole  article  is  false  from  beginning  to  end.  Tell 
dear  mother  I  will  write  her  shortly  ;  that  meanwhile,  to  be 
of  good  cheer.  The  game  of  war  is  fluctuating — their  turn 
now,  ours  perhaps  to-morrow. 

And  all  night  long  I  have  waited  and  watched  ;  the  gray 
dawn  is  now  streaking  the  eastern  sky.  No  warning  shot 
from  the  picket  guard,  all  is  still,  all  quiet,  as  though  smiling 
peace  still  blessed  the  land.  I  have  written  and  paced  the 
sentry's  beat  at  intervals  ;  now  sounds  the  reveille.  The 
stirring  fife  and  prompt  sharp  sound  of  the  drum  break  upon 


244  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  morning  air.  The  camp  is  all  aroused.  My  labor  for 
the  night  is  done.  Its  result  a  copy  of  verses  and  not  very 
interesting  letter.  It  will  bring  proof,  however,  that  I  have 
thought  of  you,  that  for  the  whole  night  at  least  you  have 
been  in  my  thoughts  till  dawn. 


I  don't  think  that  Cincinnati  is  in  immediate  danger  from 
Smith  ;  he  will  probably  retire.  His  mission  was  to  watch 
Morgan  at  the  Cumberland  Gap.  It  was  so  easy  a  thing  to 
do,  that  he  made  his  advance  farther  than  was  intended. 
Bragg  is  the  general  to  watch.  He  and  Buell  will,  I  think, 
it  is  likely,  have  a  big  battle.  If  he  is  victorious,  good-by, 
Cincinnati.  Anyhow  I  must  think  she  is  a  doomed  city. 


CAMP  ON  HERNANDO  ROAD,  NEAR  MEMPHIS, 

Oct.  16,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

A  stupid  publication  in  the  Commercial  of  the  i3th  inst. 
causes  me  anxiety  lest  you  should  be  made  to  suffer  in  the 
belief  that  I  am  the  interesting  individual  referred  to.  For 
good  or  for  evil  the  newspapers  are  bound  to  misspell  my 
name,  to  destroy  my  identity,  to  take  away,  as  far  as  possi 
ble,  my  individuality,  and  now  they  propose  to  publish  me 
wounded.  I  think,  however,  your  good  sense  will  enable 
you  to  locate  me  right.  The  number  of  my  regiment,  my 
brigade  and  division  under  General  Sherman  will  enable  my 
family  to  place  me.  There  is  no  telegraph  from  this  point 
or  I  would  telegraph  you.  I  have  just  returned  from  a  re- 
connoissance  into  Mississippi.  We  met  no  enemy  and  had 
not  even  a  skirmish.  I  commanded  the  expedition.  Tem 
porarily  my  command  is  somewhat  more  independent  than 
it  was  and  I  have  had  artillery  assigned  to  my  command  in 
connection  with  my  regiment.  M.y  duties  are  very  active. 
The  weather  is  cooler,  and  my  health  improving.  If  we 
should  have  frost  it  would  be  everything  to  me. 

They  had  a  big  fight  at  Corinth.     Many  of  my  personal 


Letters  245 

friends  have  gone  under,  among  them  Jim  Jackson,  formerly 
member  of  Congress  from  Kentucky.  I  knew  him  intimately 
in  Washington  and  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  him  be 
fore  Corinth  in  the  field.  His  was  a  gallant,  noble  spirit. 
God  !  how  many  of  them  are  gone,  to  "  barter  breath  for 
fame. ' '  That  was  a  bloody,  bloody  fight  while  it  lasted  ;  I 
mean  the  dash  on  Corinth.  Rosecrans  has  immortalized 
himself.  He  's  a  splendid  soldier.  I  can't  tell  what  our 
movements  will  be  ;  Sherman  knows  as  little  of  them  as  any 
one  ;  coming  events  will  determine.  I  do  not  think  we  shall 
be  marched  from  this  point  for  some  weeks,  unless  upon  ex 
peditions  to  return. 

I  am  writing  as  usual  hastily,  to  save  the  mail  ;  the  fact 
is,  I  eat,  drink,  sleep,  walk,  ride,  talk,  write  in  a  hurry.  I 
am  hurrying  through  life  ;  as  poor  father  used  to  say,  "  I 
was  born  in  a  hurry  and  shall  die  in  a  hurry. ' '  Time  never 
sped  so  fast  with  me. 


CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Oct.  23,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTERS  : 

I  must  address  you  together  as  I  would  talk  to  you. 
Would  to  God  that  I  could  see  you  and  talk  to  you  ;  yet, 
perhaps,  it  is  better  I  should  not.  I  should  love  you  too 
well  and  you  would  be  taken  away  from  me,  or  the  petty 
cares  of  every  day  would  make  me  appear  less  tender  in  my 
manner  than  I  am  in  heart.  You  will  always  love  me,  I 
know,  whatever  distance  or  time  separates. 

I  am  in  very  great  trouble  and  grief  this  morning,  and  can 
not  write  as  cheerfully  as  I  could  wish.  My  favorite  horse 
' '  Bell ' '  was  stolen  from  me  two  days  ago  and  to  me  his  loss 
is  irreparable.  He  is  the  best  and  handsomest  horse  I  ever 
saw.  In  all  my  experience  of  horses,  whether  belonging  to 
others  or  myself,  I  have  never  known  his  equal.  He  had 
improved  very  much  the  past  year,  even  amid  the  vicissi 
tudes  of  the  campaign,  and  had  become  thoroughly  trained 
in  all  his  duties.  He  was  the  horse  par  excellence  of  the 


246  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

army,  in  whom  all  officers  and  men  alike  of  all  the  different 
regiments  and  brigades  took  equal  pride.  No  one  seemed 
to  grudge  or  envy  me  the  ownership  of  him.  He  was  a 
creature  of  beauty  that  seems  to  be  a  joy  to  all.  He  knew 
me  and  loved  me  like  a  child,  and  would  always  neigh  and 
stretch  out  his  neck  to  be  fondled  whenever  I  approached 
him,  and  rejoiced  when  I  mounted  him.  He  carried  me 
through  both  days  at  Shiloh  and  many  a  skirmish  since  over 
the  long  marches  under  the  burning  summer  sun,  always 
with  high  courage,  gallant  and  enduring,  never  complaining 
for  food  or  water,  though  often  deprived  of  both.  I  have 
slept  many  and  many  a  night  under  a  tree  with  his  bridle  in 
my  hand.  I  believe  under  God's  mercy  I  owe  my  life  to 
him.  Money  could  not  have  bought  him  from  me,  nor 
friendship  parted  us,  and  now  to  lose  him  in  this  pitiful  way 
is  almost  more  than  I  can  bear.  If  he  had  fallen  in  battle  I 
would  have  accepted  his  loss  as  the  fate  of  war,  but  to  be 
stolen,  disfigured,  branded,  passed  from  hand  to  hand  like  a 
common  pad,  I  could  almost  cry  like  a  very  baby  when  I 
think  of  it.  He  was  never  sold,  his  owner  kept  him  from  a 
foal  till  he  came  to  my  possession  and  he  would  recognize  no 
one  but  me  for  his  master.  One  day  during  a  lull  in  the 
storm  of  battle  (it  was  at  Russell  House,  the  last  engagement 
I  was  in)  I  had  a  presentiment  he  would  be  killed.  Shot 
and  shell  had  fallen  around  us,  and  partly  for  that  presenti 
ment,  partly  in  abstraction  and  rest,  I  pulled  some  hairs 
from  his  mane  and  plaited  them  to  keep  as  a  memento,  if  he 
should  go  under.  That  little  braid  is  all  I  have  left  of  the 
proudest  game  horse  in  America.1  Do  you  see,  my  dear 
daughters,  I  am  not  in  the  vein  to  write  you  a  very  pleasant 
letter  to-day,  though  the  weather  is  delightful,  the  air 
balmy,  the  woods  still  green,  though  the  leaves  are  falling, 
ripened  but  not  frosted.  It  is  Indian  summer,  but  without 
the  tints  that  gild  the  forest  in  Ohio.  There  is  a  little  smoky 
haze  in  the  atmosphere  and  a  peculiar  rustle  of  the  leaves 
and  grass,  that  tells  the  autumn  is  wrell-nigh  over,  yet  I  am 
told  that  warm  weather  here  runs  nearly  into  Christmas. 

1  He  was  subsequently  recovered. 


Letters  247 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Nov.  n,  1862. 


MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 


My  life  is  now  in  comparison  to  what  it  has  been  some 
what  monotonous,  though  full  of  daily  incidents  that  a  year 
ago  would  have  been  excitement  enough  for  any  one,  a  cir 
cumstance  then  that  would  have  caused  comment  for  a 
month,  is  now  passed  over  without  a  second  thought.  Last 
night  one  of  my  pickets  shot  a  soldier  of  the  6th  Missouri  who 
was  attempting  to  escape  from  guard.  He  was  a  splendidly 
formed  man,  and  as  I  looked  at  him  this  morning,  stripped 
for  washing  before  burial,  shot  directly  through  the  body 
with  one  of  our  large  Minie-balls,  and  saw  the  little  uncon 
cern  of  all  about  him — even  he  who  shot  him — I  began  to 
realize  better  than  ever  before  how  valueless  human  life  has 
become  ;  within  an  hour  the  man  was  buried  out  of  sight  and 
the  thing  quite  forgotten. 

It  is  Indian  summer  weather,  and  were  it  not  for  the  dust, 
different  from  anything  in  my  experience  in  the  way  of  dust, 
would  be  delightful  ;  I  am  in  the  saddle  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  and  keep  three  horses  pretty  well  tired  down.  I 
never  thought  I  could  ride  so  much  without  fatigue.  Last 
Friday  I  was  Officer  of  the  Day  and  rode  all  day  until  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  came  back  to  camp,  changed  horses,  made 
the  grand  round  and  did  not  dismount  till  half-past  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  That  day  I  rode  twenty-two  and  a 
half  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four,  and  then  taking  only  an 
hour's  nap,  reported  for  duty.  I  know  I  rest  better  in  the 
saddle  than  in  the  chair,  and  almost  as  well  as  lying  down. 

I  think  I  shall  be  in  good  trim  for  a  winter  campaign.  We 
shall  take  the  field  probably  in  about  three  weeks.  The 
other  day  the  field  officers  of  our  brigade  surprised  General 
Sherman  by  calling  in  a  body  and  presenting  him  with 
sword,  sash,  belt,  etc. — presentation  and  acceptance  very 
affecting.  We  were  all  together  at  the  plains  of  Shiloh. 
After  presentation  invited  him  to  wine  supper  at  hotel  ; 
speeches,  talk,  etc.,  and  a  good  time  generally.  Mrs.  Sher- 


248  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

man,  with  the  General,  called  upon  me  this  morning,  and 
indeed  just  left  as  I  sit  down  to  write.  She  is  a  very  pleasant 
woman  ;  the  more  I  see  of  her  the  better  I  like  her.  She 
often  comes  to  my  camp  and  both  she  and  the  general  are 
very  hospitable  to  me  ;  indeed,  I  believe  I  eat  at  their  table 
oftener  than  at  my  own.  There  are  several  ladies  residing 
not  far  from  my  camp,  and  one  in  Memphis,  with  whom  I 
have  become  acquainted,  and  at  whose  house  I  often  visit. 
It  is  agreeable  to  me,  as  I  mess  quite  alone. 


There  was  a  grand  Union  demonstration  in  the  city  yester 
day — a  procession  and  the  theatre  thrown  open,  and  girls 
dressed  in  white  and  mounted  on  a  car  to  be  dragged  through 
the  streets  and  one  representing  a  goddess  of  liberty,  who 
ought  to  be  chained  to  a  rock  and  kept  there  the  balance  of 
her  days,  and  a  grand  band  and  flags  fluttering,  and 
speeches  made  from  the  stage  by  distinguished  citizens  and 
military  men,  and  a  hurrah,  and  the  General  with  his  staff 
and  me  on  his  right  hand,  caprioling  and  cavorting  through 
the  streets  and  standing  on  balconies,  with  waving  hats  and 
dancing  plumes  and  brass  buttons  glittering  in  the  sun,  and 
new  uniforms  covered  with  dust  and  other  free  soil,  and 
many  little  ragged  boys  and  small  girls  with  unkempt  hair 
and  the  backs  of  their  gowns  gaping  wide,  and  ' '  the  Union, 
it  must  be  preserved,"  and  General  Washington,  looking 
like  a  superannuated  ass  with  his  ears  cropped  close,  and 
"  Esto  Perpetua  "  and  "  flag  of  the  free  heart's  hope  and 
home,"  and  divers  other  strange  devices,  all  done  up  in 
white  cotton  and  carried  about  on  sticks  by  sundry  patriots 
at  the  remarkably  low  price  of  two  dollars  a  day  and  whiskey 
thrown  in,  and  a  major  and  invited  guests  and  the  presenta 
tion  of  a  Star  Spangled  Banner,  long  may  it  wave,  by  patri 
otic  ladies  of  Memphis  to  Union  Club,  and  all  the  rest  of  it 
done  up  in  a  rag  after  the  approved  style  of  Plymouth  Rock, 
and  the  4th  of  July  and  the  8th  of  January,  and  Washing 
ton's  birthday.  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei. 


Letters  249 

CAMP  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Nov.  15,  1862. 

I  have  abundance  of  good  food,  but  only  take  one  meal  a 
day,  and  that  a  very  light  one.  This  morning  one  of  my 
lady  friends  in  the  neighborhood  sent  me  in  a  most  luxurious 
breakfast,  a  roasted  rabbit  with  jelly  sauces,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing,  flanked  by  four  quails  with  three  or  four  different 
preparations  of  bread  and  other  little  matters,  and  after  the 
whole  thing  had  been  elaborately  spread  upon  a  nice  white 
cloth,  I  had  it  all  bundled  up  and  sent  off  as  a  present  to 
Mrs.  Sherman. 

I  have  a  great  many  compliments  of  this  kind  and  beauti 
ful  flowers  sent  to  me,  and  all  sorts  of  pleasant  messages. 
Last  night  I  passed  the  evening  in  company  with  General 
Sherman  at  Bishop  Otie's,  the  Episcopal  bishop  of  this 
diocese.  He  has  lovely  daughters.  One  of  them  enter 
tained  me  with  charming  songs  and  harp  accompaniment 
— a  most  beautiful  girl  and  very  accomplished. 

CAMP  ON  WOI,F  RIVER,  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  Dec.  14,  1862. 

The  papers,  I  suppose,  have  told  you  what  we  have  been 
about.  My  regiment  was  the  first  to  cross  the  Tallahatchie. 
We  have  marching  orders  for  the  i8th,  four  days  to  rest  and 
get  ready,  and  then  for  Vicksburg  or  Jackson,  or  what  God 
pleases.  We  shall  have  an  active  winter  campaign.  My 
health  has  been  good  until  within  a  day  or  two.  I  have 
recurrence  of  the  infernal  dysentery.  I  suppose  the  damp 
ness  in  some  way  strikes  upon  my  bowels,  and  I  could  get 
no  brandy.  Whiskey,  and  very  bad  whiskey  at  that,  is  all 
we  can  procure  in  the  army,  and  it  is  my  abomination. 

HEADQUARTERS  54TH  REGT.  O.  V.  INE., 

ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "  SUNNY  SOUTH," 

Saturday,  Dec.  20,  1862. 

I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  enclosing  two  from 
the  children  of  the  i3th  Dec.  I  cannot  pretend  to  make 
answer  to  them  now,  for  orders  have  suddenly  come  and  I 


250  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

am  in  all  the  hurly  burly  of  excitement  and  embarkation  of 
troops — no  easy  matter. 

This  expedition  is  fraught  with  great  results  one  way  or 
another.  We  cannot  look  into  futurity.  I  note  by  the  chil 
dren's  letters  all  the  little  household  events  that  so  much 
interest  you.  I  am  with  you  in  spirit  always.  Remem 
ber,  dear  wife,  I  am  always  true  to  you  and  my  dear  chil 
dren  and  my  darling  mother  and  my  sweet  sister — you 
are  all  with  me  now  in  spirit  as  I  write,  and  often — so  often 
—with  me  in  the  dark  hours  on  the  march  and  the  bivouac 
and  the  excitement  of  battle.  I  often  think  of  you  as  I  grasp 
the  sword  or  force  the  spur.  Many  a  bound  has  Bell  made 
when  my  heel,  responsive  to  my  heart,  has  goaded  his  pant 
ing  side, — but  enough  of  all  this  trouble.  I  can't  write  now. 
The  sweet  music  of  the  band  is  pealing  forth,  the  landing  is 
crowded  with  forty  thousand  troops  and  all  their  parapher 
nalia — transportation,  munitions  of  war. — All  is  haste,  yet 
haste  in  order.  Memphis  has  been  kind  to  me.  Do  you  be 
lieve,  I  have  more  friends  in  Memphis  to-day,  outside  of  the 
army,  I  mean,  than  I  have  in  Cincinnati.  It  is  so,  and  I 
have  the  most  substantial  proofs  of  their  friendship.  Houses, 
servants,  equipages,  everything  of  luxury  has  been  forced 
upon  me.  I  have  been  the  favored  guest.  All  this  I  '11  tell 
you  of,  or  write  you  some  other  time.  Some  of  these  friends 
will  be  lifelong  to  me,  and  in  times  like  these  that  is  not 
saying  much. 

Write  me  to  follow  the  regiment,  though  I  fear  it  will  be 
a  good  while  before  I  hear  from  you  or  you  from  me,  and 
now  I  can't  say  to  horse,  but  to  steamboat,  brave  gallants 
all,  death's  couriers,  Fame  and  Honor,  call  us  to  the  field 
again. 

ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "SUNNY  SOUTH," 

AT  MOUTH  OF  YAZOO  RIVER,  Dec.  26,  1862. 

It  has  been  usual  with  me,  before  going  into  battle,  to  write 
to  you,  and  almost  as  usual  when  I  have  come  out  of  battle 


Letters  2  5 1 

unscathed,  as  heretofore  has  been  my  fate,  to  destroy  the 
letters  so  written.  This  letter  I  shall  commit  to  transporta 
tion  immediately  after  it  is  prepared  and  shall  be  unable  to 
withdraw  it  in  any  event  that  may  occur.  The  public  prints 
will  have  stated  so  much  relative  to  the  expedition  of  which 
my  command  forms  a  part  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  for  me 
to  comment.  With  such  vague  knowledge  as  I  possess  of 
the  movements  and  position  of  the  enemy,  unless  he  capitu 
lates,  I  believe  we  shall  have  a  desperate  fight  and  the 
chances  are  even  that  I  shall  fall.  We  must  take  Vicksburg, 
if  at  all,  by  storm,  unless  it  is  surrendered. 

Christmas  day,  yesterday,  was  warm  ;  this  morning,  at 
breakfast,  the  same  old  gray-coated  housefly  that  I  used  to 
stab  on  the  window  pane,  when  a  boy,  came  to  share  my 
plate.  I  have  doffed  my  coat  and  vest ;  it  is  decidedly  warm. 
We  are  really  in  Dixie,  seventeen  hundred  miles  away  from 
you.  The  land  of  the  cotton  and  the  cane,  orange  groves 
and  myrtle.  Mayhap  I  '11  tell  you  of  it  in  time  to  come,  of 
the  long  waving  moss,  and  the  cypress.  Rapid  and  turbid 
and  broad  and  deep  rolls  the  Father  of  Waters  onward  to 
the  ocean,  the  eternal  waters. 


HEADQUARTERS  FOURTH  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 
"  MIUJKEN'S  BEND,"  LOUISIANA,  January  3,  1863. 

I  seize  a  moment  to  write  you  a  brief  letter,  for  I  know  how 
anxious  you  all  must  be  about  me.  The  papers,  who  know 
everything,  and  more  too,  will  have  apprised  you  long  before 
you  receive  this  letter  that  we  have  had  a  fight,  that  we  have 
met  the  enemy  and  that  they  are  not  ours  ;  and  you  will 
imagine,  of  course,  that  I  am  captured,  wounded  and  killed, 
but  by  the  grace  of  God  I  've  come  out  of  the  ruins  un 
scathed.  I  went  under  fire  Saturday  evening,  about  six 
o'clock,  2yth  ult.  ;  was  in  raging  battle  Sunday  and  Mon 
day  ;  and  Sunday,  very  early  in  the  action,  Gen.  Morgan  L,. 
Smith  was  shot  pretty  badly  in  the  hip  and  had  to  go  off  the 
field.  I  think  he  '11  die.  By  General  Sherman's  order,  Gen- 


252  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

eral  Stuart  assumed  command  of  the  division  and  I  of  the 
brigade,  but  Stuart  being  unwell  I  virtually  had  command 
of  the  whole  division  during  the  fight  of  Sunday.  After  the 
first  part  of  the  affair  was  over,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  as  ranking 
officer,  took  command.  I  had  ten  regiments  and  three  bat 
teries  of  sixteen  guns  before  Smith  came.  My  men  behaved 
splendidly,  especially  in  our  own  regiment,  which,  however, 
suffered  a  good  deal,  nineteen  killed  and  wounded  ;  my  best 
captain  badly  wounded.  Our  loss  is  pretty  heavy,  but  the 
enemy  must  have  suffered  terribly.  I  am  now  in  command 
of  the  old  brigade,  composed  of  the  54th  Ohio,  55th  Illinois, 
57th  Ohio,  83d  Indiana,  and  i2yth  Illinois,  with  two  fine  bat 
teries.  The  83d  Indiana  is  a  noble  regiment,  commanded 
by  Colonel  Spooner,  of  Lawrenceburgh  ;  he  knows  your 
father  well.  I  led  his  regiment  under  their  first  fire  myself 
and  can  testify  to  their  gallantry.  I  suppose  the  Adminis 
tration  will  have  too  much  to  do  to  think  of  the  promotion 
of  so  insignificant  and  humble  an  individual  as  me,  but  it  is 
pretty  hard  to  take  the  responsibility  of  commanding  bri 
gades  without  the  rank.  Yet  this  is  the  second  big  fight  in 
which  I  've  been  compelled  to  it,  to  say  nothing  of  minor 
skirmishes.  My  own  little  regiment  is  a  brick  ;  she  '11  follow 
me  to  hell  at  the  word  go.  Never  falters,  never  complains. 
We  lay  in  that  swamp,  among  the  mud-turtles  and  alligators, 
a  week,  and  short  of  rations,  and  not  the  first  man  whimpered. 
I  had  a  fellow  shot  through  the  hand,  shattering  it  and  maim 
ing  him  for  life  ;  the  ball  broke  the  stock  of  his  rifle,  and  in 
stead  of  complaining  about  his  hand,  he  went  hunting  about 
for  another  gun,  cursing  the  enemy  for  breaking  his  ;  how 
ever,  all  these  incidents  of  battle  are  very  uninteresting  to 
you  and  it  is  really  wonderful  how  soon  we  forget  them. 
There  is  a  party  of  officers  sitting  now  at  my  right  hand, 
laughing  and  talking  and  playing  cards,  whose  lives,  twenty- 
four  hours  ago,  were  not  worth  a  rush,  who  have  been  in  the 
imminent  and  deadly  breach,  who  have  lost  comrades  and 
soldiers  from  their  companies,  and  who  this  moment  are 
entirely  oblivious  of  the  fact. 

The  weather  has  been  generally  warm  and  pleasant  for  the 


Letters  253 

past  ten  or  twelve  days  ;  is  now  warm  enough,  but  it  rains 
tremendously.  I  am  told,  by  those  who  know  the  climate, 
that  it  rains  at  this  season  of  the  year,  after  it  once  sets  in, 
for  six  weeks,  then  storms  for  six  weeks,  and  then  rains 
again.  I  don't  know  how  this  may  be,  but  God  preserve  us 
from  having  days  of  such  rain  as  has  been  pouring  down  this. 


They  all  seem  to  be  looking  forward  to  Christmas,  with 
the  usual  fond  anticipations  of  childhood,  and  with  that  they 
wish  I  could  be  with  them.  My  Christmas  was  far  away, 
sailing  on  the  Mississippi  ;  my  dinner,  for  supplies  were  very 
short,  a  homely  dish  of  codfish  and  potatoes  minced,  with  a 
relish  of  stewed  beans.  My  New  Year' s  Day  was  passed  under 
the  rifle-pits  and  batteries  of  the  enemy  in  one  of  the  vast 
swamps  of  the  Mississippi,  beneath  huge  cotton  wood  and 
sweet  gum  trees  overgrown  with  the  long  peculiar  moss  of 
the  country  that  flaunts  in  the  breeze  like  funeral  weeds. 
On  Saturday  night,  while  I  was  planting  a  battery,  a  huge 
owl — one  of  the  species  that  make  these  swamps  their  home 
—flapped  his  wings  right  over  me,  and  roosting  in  the  tree 
above  my  head  gave  an  unearthly  screech  and  wound  up 
with  a  laugh  and  prolonged  ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  so  much  like  the 
utterance  of  a  human  being  as  almost  to  startle  me.  I  took 
it  for  an  omen.  Where  will  my  next  Christmas  be,  where 
shall  I  make  my  next  New  Year's  call  ?  The  last  has  been 
an  eventful  year  to  me  ;  for  the  past  nine  months  each  day 
has  been  filled  with  thrilling  incidents.  I  should  like  a  little 
rest.  I  should  like  to  lie  down  and  be  quiet.  I  should  like 
to  have  some  one  soothe  my  brow,  and  make  me  feel  as  if  I 
were  a  little  child  again.  That  is  a  beautiful  idea  in  Scripture, 
where  we  are  taught  that  all  must  become  as  little  children, 
before  they  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is 
almost  heaven  to  feel  like  a  little  child  on  earth.  But  now 
my  business  is  to  slay  and  destroy,  to  exercise  all  my  intel 
lect  in  the  destruction  of  human  life  and  property. 


254  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 

SECOND  DIVISION,  SECOND  ARMY  CORPS,  ARMY  OF  Miss., 
ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "  SUNNY  SOUTH,"  Jan.  7,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

We  are  on  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Father  of  Waters,  the 
shimmering  moonlight  streaming  bright  on  the  glittering 
waves  that  dazzle  in  reflection.  I  am  surrounded  by  gay 
officers,  the  jest  and  the  laugh  and  the  song  go  round,  but  I 
get  a  little  apart  and  look  out  into  the  night,  and  alone,  with 
no  commune  for  my  thoughts  save  sweet  memories  of  my 
mother.  Two  natures,  two  distinct  beings  seem  blended  in 
mine.  Blood,  carnage,  and  exposure  to  the  elements,  the 
dull  and  dripping  rain  at  night,  sapping  the  creeping  marrow 
in  my  bones,  the  swamp,  the  forest,  the  noontide  heat,  pro 
longed  endurance  of  fatigue,  and  wakeful  watching,  intimate 
converse  with  gladiatorial  soldiers,  the  harsh  reproof  and 
bitter  curse  (alas,  too  familiar  to  my  own  lips, )  the  forcing  of 
fierce  and  maddened  spirits  to  my  own  will,  at  times  as  fierce 
and  maddened  as  theirs,  the  groan,  the  imprecation,  oftener 
than  the  prayer  of  the  dying  ;  the  contorted  limbs  and  fixed 
stare  of  the  dead,  who  have  gone  to  their  death  at  my  bid 
ding — all  this,  and  more,  more  than  I  dare  to  think  or  to 
write,  makes  me  feel  as  he  must  have  felt  who  fell  from 
heaven.  When  plunged  in  the  abyss  of  reflection,  I  look 
for  my  pure,  bright  angel,  with  white  and  fleecy  wings, 
hovering  above  me,  her  outstretched  arms,  her  beckoning 
hand,  her  mild  and  lovely  eyes  entreating,  the  mother  of  my 
early  days.  I  change,  even  in  thought  with  her.  I  become 
a  child  again,  like  the  little  child  I  used  to  see  in  some 
of  the  editions  of  the  ' '  Common  Prayer, ' '  with  the  leopard, 
and  the  lion,  and  the  lamb,  that  I  used  to  ponder  over  in 
stead  of  listening  to  the  service  long  years  ago,  when  I  sat  in 
the  quaint  old  church.  The  Bible  pictures  all  come  back  to 
me,  the  clouds  that  I  used  to  watch  through  the  open  win 
dows,  when  the  Sunday  was  pleasant,  shaping  themselves 
into  queer  and  fanciful  forms,  when  I  used  to  wonder  if  God 
really  sat  among  them,  as  upon  His  throne,  and  if  the  little 
cherubims  and  seraphims,  all  head  and  wings  as  they  were 
lined  above  the  pulpit,  were  really  all  about  him  crying 


Letters  255 

aloud,  and  if  he  ever  spanked  them  for  so  doing,  and  from 
these  child  dreams  I  passed  to  others  ;  soft  and  pleasant 
fancies  flit  through  my  mind  ;  music  and  the  bright  fireside, 
whispering  voices,  pure,  sweet,  holy  love,  the  greeting  and 
the  parting,  the  hopes  and  fears.  My  spirit  changes  ;  I  lean 
over  the  toprail  and  gaze  into  the  deep  and  flowing  river,  to 
wonder  if  the  scene  about  me  is  real,  if  I  may  not  go  to  you 
within  the  hour  and  lay  my  head  upon  your  breast  and  cry 
myself  to  sleep,  with  your  dear  hands  clasped  in  mine.  You 
are  curious  to  know  where  I  am  and  what  I  have  been  do 
ing,  and  I  can  only  give  you  commonplace  descriptions  of 
fleets  and  the  great  broad  river,  martial  music,  startling  the 
wild  fowl  from  the  wellnigh  deserted  shores,  the  debarkation 
of  the  army,  the  bivouac,  the  attack  at  night,  the  fiercer 
conflict  that  raged  for  two  days,  the  storming  of  the  ' (  immi 
nent  and  deadly  breach, ' '  the  heroism,  the  slaughter  of  the 
soldiers,  the  withdrawal  to  the  transports — all  this  you  will 
hear  about  in  any  penny  paper,  told  with  all  the  variations 
far  better  than  my  pen  can  portray,  and  your  heart  will 
sicken  that  such  things  can  be.  You  will  hear  that  my  own 
band  acquitted  themselves  nobly,  that  nineteen  of  them  bit 
the  dust.  Stancher  followers  no  man  ever  had.  They  say 
I  did  my  devoirs.  I  don't  know.  The  blood  gets  into  my 
head  in  the  hour  of  battle  and  I  rage,  though  men  say  I  am 
cool.  The  Generals  have  given  me  the  command  of  a  bri 
gade.  .  .  .  If  I  live,  I  shall  hope  to  gather  laurels  ;  you 
shall  not  be  ashamed  of  your  son.  I  have  a  splendid  com 
mand,  five  fine  regiments  of  infantry,  two  full  batteries  of 
artillery  (one  of  which  is  the  famous  Taylor  battery  of 
Chicago,  and  the  best  of  the  service),  and  a  squadron  of 
horse,  nearly  five  thousand  men,  and  the  very  flower  of  the 
army.  The  treason  of  these  Southerners  is  almost  atoned 
for  by  their  dauntless  courage  ;  but  if  the  political  generals 
don't  succeed  in  taking  my  command  from  me,  they  shall 
meet  a  ' '  foeman  worthy  of  their  steel ' '  the  next  time  we 
are  in  battle  array.  Remember  I  am  writing  to  my  mother, 
and  if  an  indirect  trail  of  egotism  or  vanity  is  suffered  to 
creep  into  my  plain  letters,  forgive  me. 

De  Quincey,   in  his  confessions  of  opium  eating,    says, 


256  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

speaking  of  his  reveries,  '  *  Often  I  used  to  see  after  painting 
upon  the  blank  darkness,  a  sort  of  rehearsal  whilst  waking, 
a  crowd  of  ladies,  and  perhaps  a  festival  and  dances.  And 
I  heard  it  said,  or  I  said  it  myself,  these  are  English  ladies, 
from  the  unhappy  times  of  Charles  I.  These  are  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  those  who  met  in  peace,  and  sat  at  the 
same  tables,  and  were  allied  by  marriage  or  by  blood  ;  and 
yet,  after  a  certain  day  in  August,  1642,  never  smiled  upon 
each  other  again,  nor  met  but  in  the  field  of  battle  ;  and  at 
Marston  Moor,  Newberry,  or  at  Naseby  cut  asunder  all  ties 
of  blood  by  the  cruel  sabre,  and  washed  away  in  blood  the 
memory  of  ancient  friendships. ' '  One  of  my  lady  friends  in 
Memphis  gave  me  a  copy,  and  in  casually  turning  its  leaves 
to-day,  the  quotations  seemed  strangely  apt  to  the  unhappy 
condition  of  our  own  bleeding  land. 

I  have  said  if  the  political  generals  do  not  take  my  com 
mand  away, — a  batch  of  them  have  come  down  with  McCler- 
nand,  who,  you  will  perceive  by  one  of  the  accompanying 
copies,  has  divided  the  command  with  General  Sherman  ; 
two  or  three  of  them  are  educated  military  men,  and  have 
great  reputation  as  soldiers  ;  an  effort  was  made  to  place  one 
of  them  over  my  command;  it  may  yet  be  successful,  though 
they  tell  me  my  popularity  with  officers  and  men  is  very 
great,  especially  since  the  last  battle  ;  that  some  of  them  de 
clare  they  won't  fight  under  another  leader,  especially  under 
an  importation.  The  advent  of  McClernand  is  deprecated. 
What  the  result  may  be  I  do  not  know.  General  Sherman 
is  pretty  firm  about  the  matter,  now,  and  I  do  not  think  will 
go  behind  his  order.  The  Administration  is  treating  me 
badly,  but.  "  Time  at  last  sets  all  things  even,  and  if  we  do 
but  watch  the  hour,"  etc.  Meanwhile,  in  my  little  author 
ity,  you  must  imagine  me  as  I  really  am,  surrounded  by  very 
considerable  state.  My  staff  consists  of  an  adjutant,  two  aide- 
de-camps,  four  clerks,  six  mounted  orderlies,  and  as  many  of 
a  detachment  of  cavalry  as  I  may  choose  to  detail  for  per 
sonal  escort  ;  this,  with  my  body  servants,  makes  up  a  very 
considerable  menage,  and  as  I  retain  my  own  old  regiment 
as  a  body  guard,  I  move  with  very  considerable  personal 
force.  My  colors  float  very  proudly.  You  know  I  was 


Letters  257 

always  given  to  the  taking  on  of  airs,  and  thereby  exciting 
envy,  malice,  hatred,  and  all  uncharitableness,  which  with 
evil  speaking,  lying,  and  slandering,  are  always  rife  in  the 
army.  Therefore,  there  will  be  many  attempts  at  assassina 
tion  (figuratively  speaking,  I  mean),  and  these  political  pets 
will  be  after  me.  Whatever  I  've  got  has  been  literally  dug 
and  hewed  out  with  the  point  and  edge  of  the  sabre,  and  the 
devil  of  it  now  is  that  I  have  to  fight  front  and  rear.  I  had 
a  bitter  enemy  in  ...  who  is  now  hors  de  combat,  hav 
ing  been  badly  shot  in  the  late  engagement.  I  think  he  '11 
die  ;  he  won't  sit  on  horseback  for  a  year  anyhow.  I  had 
disposed  of  him  pretty  effectually  before  he  went  under. 

I  know  of  none  other  now  of  any  consequence,  but  the 
higher  one  gets  up  the  more  he  makes  of  them.  It 's  damned 
hard  they  won't  back  me  at  Washington. 

I  received  a  day  or  two  since  a  very  beautiful  letter  from 
Mrs.  Sherman,  in  which  she  spoke  of  "  having  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  my  very  elegant  and  charming  wife  and 
mother." 

I  enclose  General  Stuart's  official  report,  which  you  may 
show  to  as  many  friends  as  you  please,  though  it  should  not 
be  published.  Also  the  order  assigning  me  to  command.  It 
is  not  difficult  for  some  people  to  get  the  rank  of  brigadier, 
but  the  same  find  it  devilish  hard  to  get  the  command  to 
follow  the  rank,  and  are  proud  enough  of  two  meagre  regi 
ments.  Mine  is  a  young  army ;  I  am  immensely  proud  of  it. 


I  won't  write  myself  to  ask  for  promotion.  I  don't  want 
it  unless  it  comes  regularly  and  through  my  commanding 
general,  but  inasmuch  as  I  have  been  clothed  with  the  com 
mand,  and  that  against  the  claims  of  rank  ;  inasmuch  as  I 
must  assume  immense  responsibility,  expense,  and  exposure 
without  commensurate  reward,  therefore,  I  think,  I  am  right 
to  urge  through  my  friends  for  what  is  only  my  due. 


258  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
SECOND  DIVISION,  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

January  14,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

You  have  heard  of  our  last  battle,  and  this  will  give  you 
the  assurance  of  my  safety.  My  brigade  behaved  splendidly. 
I  had  ninety-three  officers  and  men  killed  and  wounded  ; 
among  them,  Captain  Yeoman,  senior  captain  and  in  com 
mand  of  my  old  54th,  had  his  right  arm  shattered,  since 
amputated.  The  54th  has  lost  pretty  heavily  in  both  the 
last  engagements.  She  's  a  gallant  little  regiment,  the  men 
true  as  steel.  Indeed,  my  command  is  most  emphatically  a 
fighting  brigade.  The  day  was  beautiful  after  we  had  got 
fairly  on  the  ground,  and  the  spectacle  was  splendidly  im 
posing  as  my  forces  made  the  charge.  You  must  under 
stand,  that  this  post,  heretofore  called  "  Post  Arkansas,"  but 
christened  by  the  rebels  ' '  Fort  Hyndman, ' '  is  situated  upon 
the  Arkansas  River  about  sixty  miles  above  the  mouth.  The 
country  about  where  the  Arkansas  empties  into  the  Missis 
sippi  is  flat  and  intersected  with  bayous  and  cutoffs  ;  one  of 
these  leads  into  White  River,  and  our  fleet  having  rendez 
voused  at  the  mouth  of  White  River,  we  sailed  up  that  stream 
to  one  of  these  cutoffs,  and  through  that  to  the  Arkansas  and 
up  the  Arkansas  to  a  point  three  miles  below  the  fort.  Here 
we  threw  troops  across  the  river  to  intercept  reinforcements 
to  the  enemy,  but  the  main  army  debarked  on  the  side  on 
which  the  fort  is  situated,  and  immediately  commenced  the 
line  of  march  ;  directly  as  we  were  en  route,  the  enemy  be 
gan  to  throw  their  shell  among  us,  which  wrere  returned  by 
our  gunboats,  while  the  infantry  steadily  pursued  their  way. 
About  a  mile  from  the  point  of  debarkation,  we  came  upon 
their  rifle-pits  from  which  they  had  recently  fled,  and  where 
we  found  their  fires  still  burning  and  cornbread  still  warm. 
The  term  rifle-pit  means  a  long  ditch  or  trench,  sometimes 
extending  for  many  miles,  with  a  barricade  of  logs  or  rails 
or  sometimes  willows  or  canes,  to  hold  the  earth  in  position, 
which  ought  to  be  in  embankment  at  least  four  feet  broad  at 
the  top.  Behind  this  embankment,  troops  stand  sheltered 
and  in  line  firing  at  advancing  forces.  I  make  this  explana 
tion  because  many  suppose  rifle-pits  to  be  holes  in  the  ground. 


Letters 


259 


Well  as  we  advanced,  the  enemy  abandoned  their  defences 
and  after  some  slight  skirmishing,  retreated  to  the  fort,  from 
which  was  now  commenced  terrific  cannonading.  A  little 
before  sundown,  other  troops  having  marched  around  to  the 
other  side,  and  rear  of  the  fort,  it  became  my  duty  to  advance 
my  brigade  to  a  point  immediately  in  front  of  one  of  their  bat 
teries,  and  having  put  the  troops  in  line  of  battle,  I  was  ordered 
to  advance  them  and  draw  the  enemy's  fire  ;  this  I  did  with 
such  effect  as  to  cost  me  fourteen  men,  among  whom  was 
Captain  Yeoman.  Under  their  fire  wre  lay  until  nightfall, 
and  indeed  all  night.  The  next  morning,  at  the  break  of 
day,  we  were  ordered  to  the  right  and  to  a  point  nearly  in 
front  of  their  main  fortifications,  and  here  we  lay  again, 
under  shell,  until  one  o'clock,  when  I  was  ordered  to  storm 
the  works  ;  I  wish  I  could  fully  explain  to  you  the  position 
of  the  ground,  and  must  make  some  faint  attempt  at  it,  so 
you  can  appreciate  the  movements  of  my  troops.  The  origi 
nal  fort  is  an  hundred  years  old,  and  was  erected  as  a  defence 
against  the  Indians  ;  considered  one  of  the  strongest  forts  in 
the  U.  S.  Being  upon  a  bluff  it  was  supposed  to  command 
the  bend  of  the  river  with  three  immense  cannon,  throwing 
respectively  no-,  100-,  and  8 5 -pound  shot  and  shell ;  besides 
these,  were  fifteen  pivot  guns,  having  range  at  any  given 
point.  These  are  in  the  fort  itself,  a  most  scientifically  con 
structed  work,  capable  of  holding,  crowded,  fifteen  hundred 
men.  From  one  side  of  this  fort,  and  running  westwardly, 
was  a  line  of  breastwork  extending  to  the  river-side  some 
what  thus  : 


Now  you  will  imagine  my  forces  lying  in  the  woods  to  the 
eastward,  say  half  a  mile,  at  the  time  of  my  receiving  the 


260  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

order  to  storm,  and  you  will  imagine  all  of  this  ground  north 
of  the  fort  and  breastworks,  a  beautiful  level  plain,  a  little 
ascending  to  the  fort  and  spacious  enough  to  admit  of  three 
regiments  in  line,  and  the  day  to  be  as  bright  and  beautiful 
as  ever  gladdened  the  heart  of  man,  and  then  imagine,  if  you 
can,  my  brigade  deploying  from  the  woods  just  in  the  rear  of 
General  Sherman,  and  firing  exactly  as  you  see  in  the  dia 
gram,  with  ten  brave  banners  fluttering  in  the  breeze  and 
gilded  by  the  sun.  Recollect,  each  regiment  has  a  banner 
and  a  regimental  flag,  such  a  banner  as  you  saw  for  the 
54th,  and  the  U.  S.  flag,  the  stars  and  stripes.  As  a  miltiary 
display,  I  never  saw  it  equalled.  The  troops  were  formed 
under  a  perfect  hurricane  of  shot  and  shell,  the  breastworks 
and  rifle-pits  were  lined  thick  with  the  enemy.  We  formed, 
advanced,  and  the  official  reports  will  give  you  the  rest. 
Their  white  flag  went  up,  and  I  leaped,  or  got  my  horse  over 
somehow  or  other.  I  don't  know  exactly  how,  for  it  was  a 
wicked-looking  place  when  I  surveyed  it  the  next  morning, 
and  by  order  of  the  commanding  general  caused  four  thou 
sand  men,  prisoners  of  war,  to  ground  arms  by  my  order.  I 
marshalled  them  behind  the  breastworks,  while  my  troops 
stood  on  the  ramparts.  The  enemy  fought  most  gallantly, 
with  a  most  unparalleled  obstinacy.  The  ground  inside  the 
fortifications  was  piled  with  corpses  and  strewn  thick  with 
mangled  limbs.  The  fort  was  torn  all  to  pieces.  The 
muzzle  of  the  i  lo-pound  gun  was  shot  off.  A  shell  of  ours 
must  have  entered  the  very  muzzle.  These  descriptions  you 
will  get  from  the  professional  writers,  and  in  this  instance  all 
their  word  painting  will  hardly  be  an  exaggeration  of  the 
truth. 

I  have  reason  to  thank  God  ;  for  a  little  while  this,  to  me, 
was  the  hardest-fought  battle  I  have  been  in,  and  the  whistle 
of  bullets  and  shrieking  of  shells  are  sounds  familiar  in  my 
ears  as  household  words.  This,  however,  is  my  first  real 
action  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and  the  muzzle  of  the  gun. 
The  feeling  is  very  thrilling  ;  nobody  but  the  victor  on  the 
battlefield  can  appreciate  the  very  madness  of  joy.  I  made 
speeches  to  my  new  regiments  ;  the  enthusiasm  was  tremen 
dous.  My  old  veterans  are  seasoned  and  take  things  quietly, 


Letters  261 

but  my  83d  Indiana  and  i2jih  Illinois  were  carried  up  to  the 
seventh  heaven. 

I  suppose  it  is  small  and  mean,  but  there  is  a  flattery,  an 
adulation,  a  praise  coming  from  the  mouths  of  these  soldiers 
that  is  very  dear  to  me,  and  not  from  them  alone.  I  must 
confess  I  want  it  from  my  country. 

"  If  we  are  marked  to  die,  we  are  enough 
To  do  our  country  loss  ;  and  if  to  live, 
The  fewer  men  the  greater  share  of  honor. 
God's  will !  I  pray  thee  wish  not  one  man  more. 
By  Jove,  I  am  not  covetous  for  gold, 
Nor  care  I  who  doth  feed  upon  my  cost  ; 
It  grieves  me  not  if  men  my  garments  wear. 
Such  outward  things  dwell  not  in  my  desires  ; 
But  if  it  be  a  sin  to  covet  honor, 
I  am  the  most  offending  soul  alive." 

I  must  hope  for  justice  to  my  name,  for  my  dear  children's 
sake.  If  it  is  tardy  in  coming,  or  wholly  withheld,  I  still 
have  a  satisfaction  in  the  possession  of  the  affection  of  these 
troops.  Ohio  in  all  her  counties  is  well  represented.  Illi 
nois  and  Indiana  fairly.  Many  a  family  throughout  a  vast 
breadth  will  learn  who  led  their  brother,  or  husband,  or  son, 
at  Chickasas,  and  Vicksburg,  or  Post  Arkansas. 

The  conduct  of  my  command  was  under  the  immediate  eye 
of  the  generals.  My  own  official  report  is  therefore  very 
brief.  I  would  amplify  more  to  you  now  if  I  did  not  suppose 
I  should  be  duplicating  wThat  you  will  probably  have  read  in 
the  newspapers,  before  this  letter  comes  to  hand. 

The  incidents  of  our  life,  thrilling  enough  in  the  start, 
soon  become  an  old  story ;  at  least,  we  think  nothing  of  them 
and  suppose  they  have  lost  interest  to  our  friends.  I  might 
tell  how,  leaving  the  boat  in  the  expectation  of  an  immediate 
fight,  and,  therefore,  taking  nothing  with  me  in  the  wa}^  of 
nourishment  or  extra  clothing,  I  stood  by  the  head  of,  or  sat 
on,  my  horse  all  the  night  long,  the  first  night  out,  the  shells 
coursing  their  fiery  flight  through  the  darkness  and  bursting 
over  rny  head  ;  how  eagerly  I  watched  for  the  streaks  of 
dawn  ;  how  all  the  day  I  fainted  for  a  drop  of  water  ;  how  the 


262  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

wounded  and  the  dead  lay  all  around  me  ;  of  the  captures  I 
made  in  the  way  of  prisoners  and  horses  (individually,  I 
mean),  of  the  ludicrous  scenes  in  the  field — for  strange  as  it 
may  seem  to  you,  there  is  always  something  to  laugh  at  even 
on  the  battlefield — but  this  has  been  told  over  and  over 
again;  I  cannot  paint  pain  and  anguish,  and  disappointment 
and  dismay  and  death.  They  must  be  seen  as  I  have  seen 
them  to  be  understood  ;  they  can  never  be  described. 

We  occupied  the  fort  for  two  days  and  then  re-embarked, 
and,  after  a  little,  shall  sail  down  the  Arkansas  to  the  mouth, 
where  we  expect  to  rendezvous  with  other  troops  from 
Grant's  army.  From  thence,  I  suppose,  to  Vicksburg,  to 
try  them  again  with  a  much  larger  force.  There  '11  be  many 
a  bloody  fight  before  Vicksburg  surrenders,  in  my  j  udgment  ; 
her  natural  position  is  immensely  strong,  and  she  is  thor 
oughly  fortified,  well  provisioned,  and  well  manned.  We 
have  vague  news  from  Rosecrans  ;  nothing,  however,  relia 
ble  ;  if  one  half  of  what  we  hear  be  true,  and  his  success  as 
great  as  represented,  that,  joined  to  our  late  victory  here, 
may  have  a  demoralizing  effect  upon  the  Southern  army, 
and  cause  them  to  capitulate  at  Vicksburg.  Many  of  the 
soldiers  we  found  here  claimed  that  their  time  was  up,  and 
that  they  would  have  left  in  a  few  days.  However  that  may 
be,  one  thing  is  certain,  they  will  dispute  every  inch  of 
ground  as  long  as  there  is  a  man  among  them  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  It 's  no  rebellion,  it 's  revolution,  and  a  more 
united  people  you  never  heard  of  or  read  of.  Recollect  what 
I  used  to  say  before  the  first  gun  in  this  war  was  fired,  and 
for  many  months  afterwards,  how  I  used  to  talk  to  my 
friends,  when  they  would  prate  about  the  South  and  its  re 
sources — a  matter  of  which  they  had  not  the  slightest  con 
ception.  I  propose  to  fight  the  fight  out,  at  least  as  long  as 
I  have  a  right  hand  to  draw  the  sabre. 

I  notice  in  reading  my  letter  over,  that  I  have  not  ex 
plained  there  were  two  sets  of  works  or  rifle-pits,  the  first 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  beyond  the  line  of  fortifications.  I 
mean  the  outside  lines,  and  the  first  we  encountered.  They 
were  on  the  north  and  east. 


Letters  263 

The  four  thousand  prisoners  surrendered  to  me,  of  whom 
I  speak,  were  only  a  portion  of  those  within  the  fortifica 
tions  ;  the  residue  being  inside  the  fort  and  at  other  points. 
We  took  seven  thousand  prisoners  and  eight  thousand  stand 
of  arms. 

I  speak  of  the  representation  in  my  brigade.  I  suppose 
there  is  scarcely  a  county  in  Ohio  from  which  some  men  have 
not  been  recruited  for  the  old  54th  ;  the  57th  is  made  up 
from  the  Hooppole  region  and  the  northwest.  The  55th  and 
1 27th  Illinois  were  both  picked  regiments,  and  came  from 
all  over  the  State.  The  83d  Indiana  was  recruited  near 
I,awrenceburg  and  the  tier  of  counties  bordering  Ohio.  So 
you  see  I  have  gone  over  good  space  for  infantry.  My  bat 
teries  are  from  Chicago  and  my  cavalry  from  Illinois. 

My  boat  is  under  way  ;  she,  of  course,  is  the  flagship  of 
my  fleet  of  six.  It  used  to  be  quite  a  thing  when  I  was  a 
boy  to  command  a  steamboat.  I  have  the  sublime  honor  of 
commanding  six,  some  of  them  very  heavy,  fine  boats.  Just 
before  leaving,  I  went  to  pay  my  wounded  a  visit.  Poor  fel 
lows,  I  found  them  in  all  stages  of  suffering,  but  all  cheer}', 
game  to  the  last.  My  poor  Captain  Yeoman  sat  holding  up 
his  poor  stump  of  an  arm.  I  could  hardly  keep  the  tears  back. 
The  boat  wras  crowded  and  they  were  bringing  stretchers  in 
all  the  time  I  was  there.  I  hope  the  poor  fellows  will  get 
good  attention  when  they  arrive  at  home.  The  Sanitary 
Commissioners  have  done  nothing  for  us.  The  living  for 
the  wounded  and  the  weak  is  the  hardest  that  can  be  imag 
ined — no  wine,  no  brandy,  no  nourishing  food.  The  fresh 
beef  from  starved  sick  cattle  that  have  been  brought  upon 
the  steamboat,  the  bacon,  potatoes,  bad  ;  nothing  fit  to  eat 
but  beans,  and  I  've  lived  on  beans  till  I  loathe  the  sight  of 
them.  What  our  poor  wounded  are  to  do,  God  only  knows. 
I  gave  them  all  the  money  I  had,  and  all  I  could  borrow, 
but  a  good  many  of  them  will  see  hell  before  they  die. 

As  I  write,  the  weather,  which  was  beautiful  and  warm, 
changes  to  rain  and  then  cold,  and  now  as  we  sail  down  the 
river,  we  are  in  a  violent  snowstorm.  The  river  is  wide,  and 
winding,  and  beautiful,  lined  with  the  canebrake  and  cotton 


264  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

tree  and  now  and  then  a  fine  plantation.  The  water  is 
not  fit  to  drink,  being  impregnated  with  soda  and  salts,  that 
causes  it  to  operate  badly.  Population  is  sparse  upon  its 
banks  so  far  as  we  have  gone. 

I  received  two  copies  of  your  little  poem,  and  wish  you 
wrould  send  me  some  more.  It  was  very  much  admired.  I 
showed  it  to  Stuart  one  day  in  the  field  before  Vicksburg. 
We  were  waiting  breakfast  early  in  the  morning.  He  in 
sisted  on  reading  it  through,  and  cried  like  a  baby  as  he  read 
it.  You  must  send  me  some  more  copies. 

We  are  nearing  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  soon  shall  be 
again  on  the  broad  Mississippi. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
STEAMER  "SUNNY  SOUTH,"  January  20,  1863. 

My  table  is  covered  with  orders,  letters,  plans,  and  maps, 
and  ni}^  head  full  of  business  to  the  limit  of  its  capacity, 
therefore,  I  propose  to  abandon  business  and  for  the  small 
balance  of  this  night,  devote  myself  to  }TOU,  my  dear  mother. 
This  is  the  thirtieth  day  of  this  memorable  expedition,  a 
month  has  passed  away  since  we  left  Memphis,  a  month 
fraught  with  startling  events.  Many  a  poor  fellow  has  lost 
the  number  of  his  mess,  and  we  are  yet  on  the  verge  of  the 
consummation  of  the  great  event.  If  you  will  look  at  the 
map,  and  running  your  eye  down  the  Mississippi  River  seek 
a  point  first  below  the  dividing  line  between  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana,  say  eighty-five  miles  above  Vicksburg,  you  can 
form  an  idea  of  about  the  place  where  my  headquarters,  the 
Sunny  South,  is  now  plowing  her  way  southward.  To 
morrow  we  propose  to  debark  at  or  near  Milliken's  Bend 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River,  and  this  may  be  my 
last  opportunity  for  some  time  to  come,  of  writing  home  ;  the 
opportunity  of  sending,  at  any  rate,  is  doubtful.  I  can  only 
hope  it  will  reach  you,  as  I  hope  that  other  letters,  cast  as 


Letters  265 

waifs  upon  the   water,   have   reached,   or  will  reach   their 
haven  at  last. 


I  am  in  good  condition  in  all  respects  for  the  next  battle. 
The  weather  for  the  past  two  or  three  days  has  become  de 
lightful,  neither  too  warm  nor  too  cold,  balmy  and  at  the 
same  time  bracing.  These  southern  winters  are  far  prefer 
able  to  those  of  Ohio  and  probably  more  healthful.  The 
river  is  nearly  bankfull,  an  immense  wide  expanse  of  water. 
We  are  passing  beautiful  plantations,  with  their  long 
rows  of  neat,  whitewashed  negro  quarters,  every  house  de 
serted.  Now  and  then  we  come  to  the  cane,  then  the  cotton- 
wood.  Sometimes,  when  we  get  to  a  long  reach  in  the  river, 
the  view  is  beautiful  ;  one  great  fleet  of  steamboats,  keeping 
their  regular  distance  in  military  style,  sometimes  as  many 
as  sixty  in  sight,  the  steam  wreathing  up  in  fantastic  forms, 
the  spray  from  the  wheels  forming  rainbows  in  the  bright 
sunlight  ;  now  and  then  a  strain  of  martial  music  or  the  re 
frain  of  a  cheery  song  from  the  soldiers.  Soldiers  are  much 
like  sailors  in  this  regard  ;  they  will  have  their  song  and 
fiddle  and  dance,  and  we  encourage  it,  because  it  keeps  the 
devil  down. 


I  notice  I  have  had  a  good  many  friends  killed  and 
wounded  at  Murfreesboro — glorious  spirits  gone  up  as  avant 
couriers. 

Last  night  my  own  little  fleet  ran  up  one  of  the  numerous 
chutes  of  this  part  of  the  river  on  the  Arkansas  side,  and  not 
long  after  we  had  landed  I  was  boarded  by  a  substantial- 
looking  planter  with  a  request  for  a  guard  to  his  house,  as 
he  had  ladies  in  his  domicile.  I  of  course  extended  the  de 
sired  protection  and  took  occasion  in  person  to  see  my  orders 
carried  out.  Of  course  the  hospitalities  of  the  house  were 
offered,  and  I  passed  a  couple  of  hours  very  pleasantly  in  the 
society  of  the  four  ladies,  who  did  the  honors,  a  mother  and 
three  daughters,  very  fair  samples  of  real  Southern  plantation 
society. 


266  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"  YOUNG'S  POINT,"  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  Jan.  30,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  AND  MOTHER  : 

I  have  your  letters,  mother's  of  the  i5th  and  i8th  and  wife's 
of  22d  inst.  I  can  imagine  your  anxiety,  and  regret  you 
could  not  sooner  have  heard  of  my  safety  and  well  being. 
But  you  were  not  born  to  be  a  soldier's  wife  and  mother.  You 
must  keep  up  brave  hearts  ;  none  of  us  can  die  but  once  ;  as 
well  in  the  battle  as  in  bed.  I  hope  my  life  may  be  spared 
to  comfort  you  for  many  years  to  come,  and  assure  you  that 
I  will  not  unnecessarily,  or  otherwise  than  in  the  strict  per 
formance  of  my  duty,  expose  a  life  dearer  to  others  than  it 
deserves,  far  dearer  to  them  than  to  me,  and  you  must  write 
me  cheeringly.  Give  me  words  of  comfort  and  good  cheer. 
We  need  comfort,  for  we  are  in  a  pretty  tight  place  at  the 
present  writing  ;  camped  just  in  front  of  that  famous  ditch 
of  Butler's  that  the  papers  made  so  much  fuss  about  last  year 
and  in  the  full  view  of  Vicksburg,  about  two  miles,  including 
the  width  of  the  river,  from  my  tent.  As  I  write,  its  white 
towers  and  steeples  and  window  panes  gleam  in  the  light  of 
the  setting  sun.  It 's  the  Gibraltar  of  America,  and  we  shall 
have  a  good  time  taking  it,  I  guess  ;  but  nil  desperandum  ; 
we  shall  try.  I  believe  I  wrote  you  some  account  of  the 
affairs  at  Chickasas  Bayou,  and  at  Post  Arkansas.  My  troops 
behaved  remarkably  well  in  both  engagements,  though  I  lost 
rather  more  than  my  share.  I  stand  well  enough  with  the 
army  here,  but  have  not  had  the  luck  to  do  anything  bril 
liant  enough  to  make  me  brigadier,  except  so  far  as  they  can 
give  it  to  me  by  brevet.  I  do  most  earnestly  want  the  rank, 
and  think  I  have  honestly  earned  it,  but  suppose  I  must 
exercise  patience  and  wait.  My  health  is  pretty  good.  In 
deed  I  always  feel  well  while  the  weather  is  cool  and  the 
past  three  or  four  days  have  been  lovely.  In  the  immediate 
personal  superintendence  of  large  works,  I  am  in  the  saddle 
constantly. 

My  horses  are  peculiar,  and  I  ride  hard  in  battle  and  lat 
terly  with  a  large  command  have  had  to  spread  myself  over 


Letters  267 

the  field.  This  was  a  good  deal  the  case  at  Chickasas. 
Morgan  I,,  went  over  almost  the  first  pop,  while  I  had  run 
the  gauntlet  half  a  dozen  times  before  him  and  was  over  the 
same  ground  where  he  fell  for  hours  afterwards  and  always 
under  fire.  The  newspaper  reports  are  all  false  ;  there  is 
scarcely  any  coloring  of  truth  to  them.  I  am  always  con 
founded  with  Morgan  L,.  and  his  brother  Giles  A.  I  am 
utterly  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  the  name.  My  only  salvo  is 
in  the  official  reports  ;  there  alone  can  I  be  identified,  and  in 
an  official  report  the  bare  detail  alone  is  permitted.  I  have 
sent  you  two  from  my  immediate  commanding  officer.  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  I  have  not  yet  seen,  but  am  told  that  I  re 
ceive  therein  flattering  mention.  I  have  tried  hard  to  win 
my  spurs,  but  my  heart  has  been  made  sick  by  the  terrible 
injustice  of  the  public  prints.  I  have  nobody  in  particular 
to  blame  ;  I  don't  know  that  I  have  a  single  enemy  among 
the  newspaper  reporters  ;  yet  I  am  always  ignored.  You 
must  take  the  published  stories  of  the  correspondents  with 
very  great  allowance.  They  are  never  eye-witnesses  of  the 
scenes  they  attempt  to  describe.  This  I  assure  you  is  true, 
and  a  moment's  reflection  will  give  you  the  reason  why. 
They  have  no  business  in  battle  ;  there  is  no  position  they 
could  occupy.  In  the  din  and  confusion  and  smoke  and 
hurly  burly,  the  assault,  the  charge,  the  cannonading,  the 
rattling  of  musketry,  the  changing  front  of  long  lines  of 
troops,  the  rapid  advance,  the  quick  retreat  for  change  of 
position,  the  trampling  of  cavalry,  and  artillery  and  orderlies' 
horses — where  would  the  newspaper  reporter,  with  his  pen 
and  wit  or  pencil  and  paper  be  ?  No,  they  are  far  off  to  the 
rear,  picking  up  items  from  stragglers,  and  runaways  and  the 
riff- raff  of  the  camp  and  army  ;  with  just  enough  knowledge 
of  the  ground  and  the  main  facts  to  form  a  basis,  they  draw 
upon  their  imagination  for  fancy  sketches,  and  paint  their 
words  in  glaring  colors.  My  regiment  did  go  in  where  none 
dared  to  follow,  and  by  my  superior  officer  was  withdrawn 
after  the  performance  of  the  most  heroic  valor.  It  was  the 
astonishment  of  the  army,  and  no  mention  is  made  of  it. 
The  8th  Missouri  was  not  under  fire  at  any  time  during  the 
fight  at  Chickasas.  Its  former  colonel,  the  present  major- 


268  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

general,  was  wounded  by  a  sharpshooter  before  the  engage 
ment  fairly  began.  See  the  reports  and  the  absurdity.  But 
I  won't  dilate  upon  what  you  cannot  well  understand,  and 
in  which  your  heart  cannot  possibly  be.  J 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"YOUNG'S  POINT,"  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  Feb.  4,  1863. 

MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 

I  could  write  much  on  these  army  matters  and  the  course 
of  events  here  if  it  were  proper  for  me  to  do  so  ;  but,  of 
course,  my  lips  are  sealed  and  my  pen  tabooed.  You  must 
rest  assured  that  all  the  newspaper  accounts  you  have  seen 
of  the  late  battles,  and  the  movements  of  the  Army  of  the 
Mississippi,  are  basely,  utterly  false.  So  much  has  been 
admitted  by  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  ...  in 
rny  presence  to  General  Sherman.  Courts  martial  will  de 
velop  strange  facts.  All  that  you  read  in  the  newspapers 
will  only  serve  to  mislead  you  and  confuse  your  mind.  Great 
plans  cannot  be  revealed.  Few  of  the  generals  themselves 
know  them.  The  newspaper  men,  dangerous  to  the  army  as 

1  Readers  of  Field  Marshal,  Lord  Roberts's  interesting  book,  will  see 
that  trouble  with  the  correspondents  of  newspapers  besets  military 
commanders  in  these  later  days  also.  There  is  great  similarity  in  the 
expression  of  his  views  in  relation  to  this  subject  in  his  account  of  the 
Afghanistan  campaign. 

"No  one  could  be  more  anxious  than  I  was  to  have  all  details  of 
the  campaign  made  public.  I  considered  it  due  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  that  the  press  Correspondents  should  have  every  opportunity 
for  giving  the  fullest  and  most  faithful  accounts  of  what  might  hap 
pen  while  the  army  was  in  the  field  .  .  .  What  to  my  mind  was 
so  reprehensible  in  this  Correspondent's  conduct  was  the  publication 
in  time  of  war,  and  consequent  excitement  and  anxiety  at  home,  of 
incorrect  and  sensational  statements  founded  on  information  derived 
from  irresponsible  and  uninformed  sources,  and  the  alteration  of  tele 
grams  after  they  had  been  countersigned  by  the  recognized  authority, 
the  result  of  which  could  only  be  to  keep  the  public  in  a  state  of 
apprehension  regarding  the  force  in  the  field,  and  what  is  even  more 
to  be  deprecated,  to  weaken  the  confidence  of  the  troops  in  their  com- 
:'— Forty-One  Years  in  India,  vol.  ii.,  p.  166. 


Letters  269 

spies  giving  information  to  the  enemy,  closely  restricted  and 
carefully  watched,  nevertheless  manage  to  mingle  undetected 
with  the  residue  of  the  horde  of  base  camp  followers  who  are 
always  at  the  heels  of  the  army.  Provoked  at  the  restrictions 
placed  upon  them,  by  common  agreement  they  hound  down 
with  infamous  slander  the  generals  from  whom  the  orders 
against  them  emanate.  Thus  the  scoundrel  .  .  .  the 
correspondent  of  the  New  York  .  .  .  has  admitted  by 
letter  to  General  Sherman,  as  well  as  verbally  in  my  pres 
ence,  not  only  that  his  article  was  false,  and  malicious, 
and  based  upon  false  information  received  from  parties 
interested  in  defaming  General  Sherman  and  his  command, 
but  that  he  renewed  the  old  story  of  his  insanity  for  the 
purpose  of  gratifying  private  revenge.  .  .  .  Our  country 
is  in  an  awful  condition  ;  we  are  verging  rapidly  upon  an 
archy.  Government  has  almost  ceased  to  exist  save  in  name. 
An  immense  army  will  be  demoralized  and  crumble  by  its 
internal  opposing  forces.  A  united  people  have  only  to  fold 
their  arms  and  calmly  bide  the  event.  God  help  us,  and 
forgive  that  political  party  which  sowed  the  wind,  the  fruits 
of  which  we  now  reap.  This  much  and  this  alone  I  have  to 
say.  A  soldier  has  naught  to  do  with  politics  ;  the  nearer 
he  approaches  a  machine,  an  animal  without  volition,  the 
more  valuable  he  becomes  to  the  service,  and  perhaps  the 
greater  part  of  our  present  difficulties  grow  out  of  the  fact 
that  our  soldiers  are  too  intelligent,  for  they  will  talk  and 
they  will  write,  and  read  the  papers.  Our  Army  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  particularly  our  gallant  "  Old  Division," 
have  the  firmest  faith  and  the  most  implicit  reliance  upon 
Sherman  and  Grant.  Sherman  is  a  splendid  soldier,  a  most 
honorable  gentleman,  a  pure  patriot.  Would  to  God  we  had 
more  like  him  to  battle  for  the  right.  I  earnestly  pray  God 
he  may  not  be  sacrificed.  This  new  infusion  I  know  nothing 
about.  McClernand  has  been  sent  off ;  he  is  out  of  place 
here.  Brigadiers  have  come  and  are  coming.  I  shall  soon 
be  superseded  by  some  one  of  them,  or  General  Stuart  will 
be  compelled  to  give  way  and  I  to  him.  No  change  of  this 
kind  will  be  cheerfully  submitted  to  by  my  command.  I 
have  the  most  substantial  evidence  that  I  possess  their  affec- 


270  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

tion  and  confidence.  You  speak  about  my  resigning  ;  it 
would  be  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  resign,  if  I  desired  to 
do  so,  and  an  effort  on  my  part  to  have  my  resignation 
accepted  would  ensure  my  lasting  disgrace.  An  officer  can 
not  resign  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  But  I  do  not  want  to 
resign.  With  all  its  terrible  hardships  and  privations,  greater 
than  tongue  can  tell,  or  pen  describe,  the  life  of  a  soldier  is 
dear  to  me.  I  love  its  dangers  and  excitements.  I  am 
proud  of,  and  delighted  with  the  applause  which  even  a 
temporary  success  meets.  I  am  relieved  of  the  miserable, 
wretched  chicanery  that  surrounds  the  civilian.  I  rejoice  in 
the  free  air.  I  take  kindly  to  the  nomadic  life  that  a  field 
service  compels.  The  romance  of  chivalry  is  realized,  the 
ideality  of  my  youth  and  early  manhood  brought  into  actual 
being.  The  war  horse  and  the  sabre,  the  glitter  of  the 
soldier's  trappings,  the  stirring  strains  of  martial  music,  the 
flashing  eye,  the  proud,  high  bearing,  the  bivouac  fire,  the 
canteen,  the  song  and  jest,  the  perilous  scout,  the  wary 
picket,  the  night  march,  all  familiar — this  is  my  life.  What 
I  read  of,  till  my  cheeks  tingled  and  my  eyes  suffused,  I  now 
do  and  my  comrades  do,  and  like  Harry  Percy,  feel  able  to 
"  pluck  bright  honor  from  the  pale-faced  moon." 

How  long  we  shall  stay  here,  God  knows  ;  it  is  a  horrid 
place  now,  what  it  will  be  in  the  spring,  none  can  tell  ;  a 
long  flat  swamp  a  foot  above  or  below — I  can't  tell  which — 
the  level  of  the  Mississippi,  which  we  are  fighting  to  keep  out. 
That  portion  not  covered  with  a  growth  of  brake  and  timber 
is  completely  so  by  cockle  burr,  that  grows  to  an  enormous 
height  and  presents  an  almost  impenetrable  mass  of  those 
little  prickly  burrs  that  get  into  the  manes  and  horsetails, 
the  same  kind  we  have  at  home,  but  fearfully  exaggerated 
in  size  and  numbers.  It  is  not  quite  the  season,  but  after  a 
very  little  while  we  shall  be  enlivened  by  the  pleasant  society 
of  alligators  and  mocassin  snakes,  mud  turtles  and  their  co 
adjutors.  Meanwhile  we  have  every  conceivable  variety  of 
lice  and  small-pox,  measles  and  mumps,  and  other  diseases 
incident  to  women  and  children.  There  is  a  species  of  moss 
you  have  often  heard  of  and  which  abounds  in  this  climate — 


Letters 


271 


a  long  hanging  and  beautiful  moss  when  seen  close  at  hand, 
but  which  waving  in  the  forests  presents  a  dreary  funereal 
aspect.  It  is  an  article  of  commerce,  and  when  properly 
prepared  is  a  material  for  the  stuffing  of  mattresses.  Of 
course  the  men,  when  we  camped  near  where  it  grew,  eagerly 
sought  it  to  make  their  beds,  and  were  much  disgusted  to 
find  it  filled  with  lice.  It  has  to  be  boiled  and  bottled  to 
clean  it  from  vermin.  So,  with  the  moss,  and  the  transport 
boats  filthy  in  the  extreme,  many  of  which  had  been  hospital 
boats,  the  troops  were  pretty  thoroughly  infected  with  the 
plagues  of  Egypt,  all  but  the  frogs  ;  and  the  first  sun,  I 
reckon,  will  make  them  tune  their  pipes. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 
FIFTEENTH  A.  C.,  YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA., 

OPPOSITE  VlCKSBURG,  Feb.  22,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  send  other  papers,  to  show  the  condition  and  feeling 
of  our  army  here  towards  General  Sherman.  The  public 
have  been  systematically,  basely,  infamously  imposed  upon 
by  the  journals  or  their  paid  hirelings.  God  knows  we  have 
enough  to  endure  from  the  apathy  and  indifference  of  friends 
at  home  to  say  nothing  of  traitors  and  open  treason.  You 
say  ' '  it  may  have  been  wise,  but  not  well  in  General  Sher 
man  to  muzzle  the  press."  You  do  not,  cannot  know  all. 
General  Sherman  has  had  neither  the  power  nor  the  will, 
to  muzzle  the  press,  but  he  has  endeavored,  and  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  most  unsuccessfully,  to  drive  from  among  the  camp 
followers  of  the  army,  the  scoundrels,  who  by  tergiversation, 
misrepresentations,  and  actual  falsehood  impose  alike  upon 
the  credulity  of  the  people  and  those  who  are  honest  among 
the  conductors  of  the  press.  General  Sherman  has  been 
actuated  by  the  purest  patriotism,  and  would  not  lend  him 
self  to  the  contemptible  chicane  and  meanness  by  which 
certain  individuals  have  been  puffed  up  or  written  down. 
Therefore  these  villains  have  conspired  and  confederated 
together  to  slander  him  and  villify  his  command.  One, 
.  .  .  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  .  .  .  who 


272  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

wrote  one  of  the  most  shamefully  false  articles  of  all  that 
appeared  (and  all  were  false),  describing  the  affair  at  Chicka- 
sas  Bluffs,  admitted  to  General  Sherman,  in  my  presence  and 
in  answer  to  my  questions,  that  because  General  S.  was 
known  to  be  opposed  to  the  presence  of  professional  news 
paper  correspondents  in  the  army,  therefore  he  had  deter 
mined  to  league  with  others  of  the  fraternity  who  were  here 
and  revenge  themselves  by  writing  him  down.  That  neither 
he  nor  they  knew  anything  about  him,  but  they  had  deter 
mined  among  themselves  to  renew  the  old  slander  of  his  in 
sanity,  because  they  supposed  that  would  be  most  injurious 
to  him.  He  also  admitted  that  his  letters  were  false,  and 
based  upon  false  information.  This  he  did  in  writing,  and 
was  subsequently  tried  by  court  martial,  his  confreres,  mean 
while,  making  their  escape.  His  letter  to  the  .  .  .  was 
copied  into  the  Vicksburg  papers,  and  the  enemy  actually 
had  the  reading  of  it  before  we  did,  and  became  possessed  of 
most  valuable  information  to  them.  They  had  never  re 
garded  our  falling  back  from  the  bluffs  as  a  retreat,  but  sup 
posed  the  withdrawal  was  stratagem  on  the  part  of  Sherman, 
and  cautioned  their  generals  against  the  result.  Immense 
plans  were  disarranged,  and  in  consequence  of  their  publica 
tions  much  public  treasure  has  been  wasted  and  many  lives 
lost.  We  know  that  very  many  of  these  newspaper  corre 
spondents  are  paid  spies.  We  know  that  many  of  them  are 
in  certain  interests,  some  in  that  of  cotton  speculators,  some 
in  that  of  gold  brokers,  some  paid  by  combinations  of  bank 
ers,  who  all  use  the  intelligence  they  give  the  people  for  the 
furtherance  of  specific  views.  Hence  you  perceive  the  mis 
chievous  tendency  of  the  productions  of  these  canaille  against 
the  public  weal,  as  well  as  the  government,  but  aside  from 
this  a  far  more  terrible  effect  is  produced  in  the  demoraliza 
tion  of  the  army  and  the  shaking  of  the  confidence  of  the 
soldiers  in  their  leaders.  The  withdrawal  of  the  army  from 
Chickasas  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  military 
achievements  of  the  war,  by  the  army.  Officers  were  en 
thusiastic  and  it  was  regarded  as  equal  to  a  victory  in  its 
effects  upon  the  minds  of  the  men.  That  the  army  was  .  .  . 
in  splendid  condition  for  battle  was  evidenced  by  their  con- 


Letters  27^ 

/  «j 

duct  at  Post  Arkansas,  immediately  thereafter.  Yet  no 
sooner  were  the  newspapers  received  than  their  spirits  were 
dampened  and  their  ardor  cooled  by  the  first  intelligence  they 
had  received,  that  they  had  been  defeated  and  that  their 
favorite  general  was  in  disgrace  (for  they  may  say  what  they 
please  in  Ohio,  General  Sherman  is  the  favorite  of  this  army 
and  to-day  is  the  hero  of  the  West  in  fact,  whether  he  has  the 
reputation  or  not).  Very  well  !  from  whom  does  the  infor 
mation  come  to  depress  the  feelings  and  outrage  the  sensibili 
ties  of  the  army  ? — not  from  the  public  at  home,  but  through 
the  public  journals,  who,  to  use  the  mildest  terms,  have  been 
imposed  upon  by  at  most  five  or  six  individuals,  each  one  of 
whom  is  infamous  in  character,  and  because  of  his  infamy, 
is  fit  for  his  nefarious  trade.  They  find  themselves  cramped, 
and  with  a  fiendish  malignity,  gratify  their  private  revenge 
at  the  expense  of  a  nation.  To  pull  down  Sherman  they 
would  sacrifice  his  army,  to  sacrifice  that,  they  would  betray 
the  commonwealth.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  journalists  have 
a  character  to  sustain,  these  have  none,  and  it  is  these  that 
should  be  scourged  like  hounds  from  every  corps,  division, 
and  regiment  of  our  army,  whenever  or  whatever  its  service. 
We  endorse  General  Sherman  fully  in  this  matter,  and  I  re 
fer  you  to  the  enclosed  document  marked  "  A, "  a  copy  of 
the  original  which  was  signed  by  all  the  officers  of  the  ' '  Old 
Division  ' '  with  enthusiastic  alacrity.  The  public  are  en 
titled  to  and  should  have  early  information  of  the  movements 
of  our  armies,  when  such  information  may  be  transmitted 
without  notice  to  the  enemy,  but  all  such  information  should 
be  under  supervision  and  censorship,  for  the  most  obvious 
reason,  and  no  personal  allusion  to  the  character  or  behavior 
of  any  officer  or  soldier  should  be  permitted  ;  what  that 
leads  to  the  most  obtuse  can  see.  .  .  .  For  my  record  I 
point  with  what  I  believe  is  an  honest  pride  to  the  official 
reports  of  my  commanding  generals,  now  part  of  the  archives 
of  the  nation,  and  I  would  not  exchange  the  autograph 
letters  of  General  Sherman  which  I  now  enclose  to  you,  for 
all  or  any  of  the  newspaper  fame  that  I  have  seen  bestowed 
on  any  man. 

If  I  succeed  in  securing  my  promotion  through  legislative 


274  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

channels,  it  is  well  ;  I  think  I  deserve  it.  I  think  it  not  only 
due  to  me  from  my  country,  but  that  it  will  enable  me  to 
render  her  more  effectual  service.  I  do  not  ask  it  as  a  favor 
— I  demand  it  as  a  right  ;  and  I  am  admonished  that  without 
the  demand  the  right  will  not  be  accorded.  Therefore,  and 
properly,  the  action  of  my  personal  and  political  friends  to 
bring  me  properly  to  the  attention  of  the  appointing  power, 
to  urge  upon  the  Senate  the  propriety  of  remembering  those 
who  are  placing  their  lives  in  peril  to  save  the  Republic,  to 
remind  the  President  of  the  propriety  of  selecting  for  his 
generals  those  who  are  most  competent  to  lead  his  armies  in 
the  field.  Whether  I  receive  my  promotion  or  not  you  and 
my  friends  will  have  been  made  to  know  that  my  immediate 
commanding  generals  think  I  deserve  it,  and  that  I  have  the 
confidence  of  my  brother  officers  with  whom  I  have  served  so 
long  and  so  arduous  a  campaign. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 
FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  March  i,  1863. 

MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 

You  speak  of  my  name  not  appearing  in  the  Commercial  ; 
if  our  official  reports  were  published  by  that  sheet  it  would 
appear.  I  have  sent  you  copies  of  both  reports,  of  my  im 
mediate  commanders,  of  the  recent  battles.  I  believe  my 
name  is  sufficiently  conspicuous  in  both  ;  it  is  equally  con 
spicuous  in  the  report  of  General  Sherman.  Flattery  is 
contemptible  to  both  parties  ;  all  but  flattery  I  think  my 
commanders  have  given  me.  That  my  name  does  not  ap 
pear  in  the  public  prints  is  simply  because  I  will  not  resort 
to  the  usual  means  and  appliances  to  place  it  there.  If  I 
was  a  merchant  or  an  inventor  of  quack  medicines,  I  would 
advertise  to  fill  my  purse,  but  I  cannot,  I  do  not  know  how 
to  advertise  my  honor,  and  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  seek  for 
that  preferment  which  I  should  be  accorded  without  the 
asking.  Even  in  the  seeking,  if  I  know  myself,  I  am  un 
selfish  in  intent,  for  I  think,  nay,  know,  that  I  can  serve  my 
country  better  in  the  position  I  want  to  have  guaranteed  to 
me — the  one  I  now  hold — than  as  the  commanding  officer  of 


Letters  275 

a  regiment  literally  hacked  and  hewed  to  pieces  in  battle,  to 
say  nothing  of  accident  or  disease  on  the  long  and  tiring 
march,  the  loathsome  transport,  the  unhealthy  camp. 
There  are  but  few  left  of  the  brave  hearts  that  followed  me 
to  the  field.  The  graves  of  their  dead  are  land-marks  on 
eighteen  hundred  weary  miles  that  their  survivors  are  away 
— away  from  homes  on  the  banks  of  the  Miamies  and  the 
Sandusky,  and  the  Scioto,  and  the  Muskingum,  from  the 
farm  and  the  village,  from  the  workshop  and  the  college, 
the  railroad  and  the  factory,  all  the  way  from  the  Ohio  River 
to  the  shores  of  Erie.  The  whole  State  of  Ohio,  emphati 
cally  almost  every  county  in  it,  was  represented  by  my  regi 
ment,  and  such  a  regiment  her  borders  will  never  raise  again  ; 
leal  hearts  and  hardy  frames,  young,  joyous,  full  of  fire  and 
enterprise  and  patriotism  ;  and,  God  help  me,  how  many  are 
gone  !  Their  bones  bleach — bleach,  that  's  the  word,  for 
graves  were  shallow  and  coffins  they  had  none  at  ' '  Shiloh  ' ' 
— their  graves  dot  Tennessee  from  Corinth  to  Memphis. 
Unshrouded  and  unanealed  their  ghastly  corpses  gibber  in 
the  moonlight  on  the  banks  of  the  Yazoo  ;  and  at  Arkansas 
Post  the  rude  head  boards  tell  where  the  dead  braves  of  the 
11  54th  "  rest.  A  handful  are  left— less  than  three  hundred 
all  told. 

In  respect  to  General  Sherman  and  the  press,  I  have  writ 
ten  at  some  length  in  a  former  letter  that  you  doubtless  have 
before  this  received.  Not  the  press,  but  the  infernal  scoun 
drels  who  prostitute  it  by  making  it  a  medium  for  their  base 
designs  upon  individuals,  the  public,  and  the  nation,  does  he 
propose  not  only  to  muzzle  but  destroy.  General  Sherman 
will  live  in  history,  and  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen 
when  these  wretched  myrmidons  shall  have  passed  to  infamy 
and  eternal  death.  The  reaction  in  his  favor  is  sure  to  come. 
No  man  ever  lived  who,  possessing  his  talents  and  energy, 
and  purity  of  life  and  heart  and  purposes,  failed  to  make  his 
mark  upon  the  times  ;  and  as  sure  as  he  now  lives,  he  will 
illustrate  his  position,  and  cause  his  name  to  shine  brightly 
on  the  page  of  history.  His  father-in-law,  Mr.  Ewing, 
quoted  from  Macaulay,  and  applied  most  appositely  to  him 


276  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  sentence  * '  fierce  denunciation  and  high  panegyric  make 
up  what  men  call  glory ' ' ;  both  the  former  has  General 
Sherman  had  in  no  stinted  measure,  but  his  true  glory  is  in 
his  native  excellence  ;  his  full  power  has  not  yet  been  shown. 
O,  Mother  !  if  you  had  seen  that  man  as  I  have  seen  him, 
if  you  could  have  sat  by  his  side  as  I  have  sat,  amid  death 
and  destruction,  when  the  fate  of  a  nation  seemed  to  hang 
and  ...  in  my  opinion  did  then  hang  on  his  word  ; 
had  you  watched  him  as  I  watched,  and  noted  him  exalted 
above  materiality,  towering  above  and  beyond  the  sense  of 
pain  and  fear  of  death  ;  had  you  scanned  his  eagle  eye  flash 
ing  and  blazing  with  the  fire  of  intellect,  and  in  its  compre 
hensive  glance  taking  in  and  weighing  the  fate  of  thousands  ; 
had  you  known  him  as  I  knew  him,  win  a  great,  a  glorious 
battle,  great  as  Waterloo,  and  which  ought  to  have  been  de 
cisive,  and  that  would,  within  twenty-four  hours  of  its  close, 
have  been  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  Republic  had  he  been 
alone  in  command,  you  would  spurn  the  lucubrations  of  the 
miserable  drivellers,  who  like  mousing  owls  are  hawking  at 
the  eagle  towering  in  his  pride  of  place,  as  utterly  unworthy 
a  second  thought.  Have  you  ever  known  me  deceived  in 
my  judgment  of  men  so  far  as  intellect  is  concerned  ?  Where 
to-day  are  the  friends  and  companions  of  my  early  youth  and 
young  manhood  ?  Some  are  dead,  but  the  good  was  not  in 
terred  with  their  bones  ;  they  still  live.  One  (you  well 
know  whom  I  mean)  has  made  his  opinions  in  the  juris 
prudence  of  Ohio  classical  ;  his  faults,  his  vices,  if  you 
please,  are  forgotten ;  his  graces,  the  strength  of  his  glorious 
intellect,  still  illumines.  Sherman  is  greater  than  he,  and 
oh  !  far  better,  and  trust  me,  when  lesser  lights  go  out  or 
feebly  glimmer  in  obscurity,  his  will  shine  out  a  bright  par 
ticular  star  in  the  political  firmament,  a  guiding  star  to 
those  who  come  after  him.  If  I  could  only  approach  him  in 
example,  you  would  have  a  son  to  be  proud  of.  To  me  it  is 
a  matter  of  great  pride  that  I  have  had  the  inestimable  privi 
lege  of  almost  intimate  association  with  him  for  a  year  past, 
by  day  and  by  night,  in  the  peril  of  the  field  and  the  pleas 
ures  of  the  social  board.  I  have  never  heard  him  utter  a 
word  that  would  bring  the  blush  to  the  cheek  of  maiden 


Letters  277 

purity.  I  have  never  known  him  insult  his  God  ;  he  is  in 
variable  in  his  just  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  and 
though  he  rarely  smiles,  though  to  the  vast  responsibilities 
with  which  he  has  been  clothed,  all  the  amenities  of  life  with 
him  have  been  sacrificed  ;  still,  with  a  cheering  amiability 
of  heart,  he  has  been  foremost  in  strewing  the  few  flowers 
that  give  fragrance  to  the  thorny  pathway  of  the  soldier. 

As  respects  Vicksburg,  I  cannot,  ought  not,  to  write  you 
much — time  alone  can  tell  what  will  be  the  result  of  our 
enterprise.  All  that  men  can  do  will  be  performed  :  the  rest 
is  with  the  God  of  battles,  who  holds  in  His  hands  the  fate 
of  nations.  I  send  a  little  sketch  which  may  serve  to  give 
you  some  faint  idea  of  the  topography  of  the  country.  By 
the  bye,  I  have  learned  that  the  name  "  Yazoo,"  in  the 
Indian  tongue,  signifies  death —  '  Yazoo  River,"  the  river 
of  death — and  truly  its  waters  are  most  abominable,  dealing 
death  to  almost  all  who  drank  freely  of  them,  while  its 
stream  ran  red  with  the  blood  of  those  slain  on  its  banks. 
You  will  note  its  course,  the  position  of  the  bayous,  and 
where  our  troops  fought.  The  celebrated  ' '  Haines  Bluff ' ' 
and  our  present  position  toward  Vicksburg. 

I  have  written  to  you  that  I  enjoyed  a  soldier's  life,  and 
indeed  I  do  notwithstanding  its  privations  and  discomforts, 
and  in  this,  that  it  is  a  life  of  excitement  and  free  from  the 
care  that  has  heretofore  been  my  portion.  With  you  I 
mourn  that  I  did  not  enter  the  military  academy  when  I  had 
the  opportunity,  and  fit  myself  while  young  for  a  brilliant 
military  career,  for  I  feel  that  it  might  have  been  made 
brilliant.  Youth  wasted  !  well,  why  look  back  ?  That 
' '  might  have  been  ' '  weighs  often  upon  me  like  an  incubus. 
If  I  could  only  keep  fresh  my  youthful  feelings. 

Colonel  Spooner  has  probably  been  detained  in  his  own 
State  partly  by  family  bereavement  and  partly  by  business. 
I  shall  hope  he  will  be  able  to  see  you  all  before  he  returns. 
He  is  in  my  command,  and  can  tell  you  a  great  deal  about 
me.  I  am  glad  you  were  pleased  with  Major  Fisher  ;  he  is  a 
favorite  of  mine  and  I  have  always  kept  him  near  my  person. 
He  is  possessed  of  a  fine  and  cultivated  mind,  is  amiable  in 


278  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

character,  but  cool  and  brave  in  action.  Was  educated  in 
his  profession,  of  which  he  is  a  master,  by  General  Rosecrans, 
and  was  promoted  to  his  majority  for  his  gallantry  at  Carni- 
fex  Ferry  in  Virginia,  and  assigned  to  my  regiment.  In 
case  I  am  promoted,  I  design  he  shall  command  it.  He  met 
with  a  great  affliction  in  the  loss  of  his  wife,  a  most  lovely 
girl,  and  her  child,  within  a  year  of  his  marriage,  and  his 
life  has  been  clouded  and  embittered  in  consequence.  I  be 
lieve  he  is  most  sincerely  attached  to  me,  indeed  I  have  been 
fortunate  in  making  many  friends  in  the  service,  and  I  doubt 
not  an  equal  number  of  enemies. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 
FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  March  i,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 


I  am  much  indebted  to  the  Sisters  of  St.  John  for  their 
prayers  in  my  behalf,  and  you  must  so  tell  them  from  me. 
Ask  them  to  take  good  care  of  our  poor  wounded  soldiers. 
We  have  no  Sisters  in  this  army.  Is  not  this  strange  ?  I 
have  seen  some  two  or  three  women  on  the  hospital  boats, 
but  they  are  poor  concerns.  Catholic  Sisters  would  be  a 
mercy  in  ministering  to  our  hospital.  No  tongue  can  tell 
or  mind  conceive  the  anguish  and  neglect  and  suffering  of 
the  sick  and  dying  soldiers  in  camp — and  their  graves  !  such 
graves  !  I  fear  from  your  remark  of  Sergeant  White  that 
he  reports  me  as  being  profane.  I  trust  not.  I  sometimes 
do  get  a  little  mad,  and  they  say  I  make  the  fur  fly,  and 
swear  the  hair  off  the  men's  heads,  but  the  recording  angel 
sheds  tears  so  copiously  in  these  sad  times  that  a  few  must 
fall  on  my  page  of  errors. 

I  can't  help  being  amused  when  I  hear  the  officers  and 
orderlies  ask  outside  my  tent  if  the  old  general  is  in,  or  how 
is  the  old  general  to-day.  I  think  my  heart  and  feelings  are 
fresh  yet,  though  they  are  circumscribed. 


Letters 


279 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  DIVISION, 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ON  BOARD  STR.  "SWALLOW," 

NEAR  YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  March  10,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

As  you  will  notice  from  my  dates  from  shipboard,  I  have 
changed  somewhat  the  locus  in  quo  since  my  last  ;  fairly 
driven  out  by  the  high  waters.  The  Mississippi  proved 
rather  too  much  for  the  engineer,  and  declined  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  canal  in  paying  tribute  as  called  for,  therefore 
we  had  to  "  take  water  "  for  fear  of  being  drowned.  I  sup 
pose  the  crevasses  may  be  repaired,  in  which  case  we  shall 
remain  here  till  the  experiment  of  the  canal  is  fairly  tested. 
When  I  have  more  time  I  will  write  you  all  about  it. 

I  am  glad  you  saw  Sergeant  White  who,  as  lately  from 
me,  could  make  himself  interesting.  I  send  all  such,  of  high 
and  low  degree,  to  you,  because  they  can  answer  many  a 
question  and  relate  many  an  incident  that  would  escape  my 
notice  or  memory. 

I  enclosed  you  a  copy  of  petition  from  my  entire  brigade 
for  my  promotion.  I  will  send  you  copies  of  the  endorse 
ments  of  my  commanding  generals,  which  were  very  hand 
some.  It  has  not  yet  been  submitted  to  General  Grant, 
who  is,  however,  my  warm  personal  friend  and  who  will 
doubtless  say  as  much  as  the  others.  Then  so  far  as  the 
army  is  concerned,  to  use  General  Sherman's  own  language, 
' '  my  record  is  perfect. ' '  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  that 
of  the  best  puffed  man  in  America.  If  promotion  does  not 
come,  my  family  and  friends  at  least  will  know  that  I  de 
serve  it  ;  and  I  believe  all  proper  effort  has  been  made  to 
secure  it. 


STR.  "  SWAI,I,OW,"  NEAR  YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA., 

March  10,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

My  command  has  been  camped,  as  you  know  on  a  very 
low  swampy  piece  of  land  immediately  in  front  ;  and  is  the 
nearest  of  the  troops  to  the  city  of  Vicksburg,  and  just  in 


280  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  rear  of  the  canal.  The  enormous  rise  in  the  river 
coupled  with  copious  rains,  threw  the  water  into  the  canal 
more  rapidly  than  was  anticipated,  causing  crevasses  and 
inundation  which  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  change  ground 
to  the  top  of  the  main  levee  which  extends  all  around  the 
peninsula,  the  location  of  which  you  will  the  better  under 
stand  by  reference  to  my  former  letters.  There  my  soldiers 
are  literally  roosting  upon  a  narrow  strip  of  land  say  ten  feet 
in  width  at  top,  the  Mississippi  on  one  hand,  an  impassable 
swamp  on  the  other.  I,  with  my  horses,  have  betaken  my 
self  to  a  steamboat  moored  to  the  shore.  How  long  this  state 
of  things  will  continue  depends  upon  the  state  of  the  river  ; 
when  that  falls,  the  canal  will  be  completed.  The  weather 
has  been  intensely  disagreeable  and  cold  ;  to-day  it  bright 
ens,  but  for  the  last  three  days  in  thick  winter  clothing,  I 
have  been  glad  to  sit  close  to  a  hot  stove.  My  health  is  ex 
cellent,  and  being  close  to  General  Grant's  headquarters  on 
the  steamer  Magnolia,  I  have  been  favored  in  the  society  of 
very  pleasant  gentlemen,  himself  and  staff.  General  Stuart 
is  on  the  boat  with  me,  and  General  Sherman  comes  often 
to  see  us,  and  I  assure  you  we  have  a  right  merry  time. 
Officers  who  have  been  long  in  the  army,  especially  gentle 
men  of  good  education,  are  far  more  accomplished,  more 
agreeably  entertaining  than  any  other  class  of  men.  I  speak 
of  these  matters,  because  I  know  it  will  be  gratifying  to  you 
to  learn,  that  amid  vicissitudes,  and  danger,  and  deprivation 
of  home  comforts,  I  am  still  able  to  find  pleasure  and  I  trust 
profit  in  society  of  the  high  and  noble.  I  think  General 
Grant  is  very  sincerely  my  friend,  scarce  a  day  passes  that 
he  does  not  invite  me  to  dine  with  him  ;  always  when  we 
meet.  To-day  he  heard  me  mention  that  my  foraging  cap 
was  shabby,  and  that  I  regretted  not  being  able  to  provide 
myself  with  a  new  one  here  ;  with  great  delicacy  he  went  to 
his  trunk  and  brought  me  his  own  quite  new,  insisting  I  should 
wear  it.  A  small  matter  to  speak  of,  but  general  officers  are 
not  usually  so  polite  to  those  even  of  my  grade,  and  a  com 
pliment  of  the  kind  coming  from  him,  and  in  the  manner  it 
did  was  fully  appreciated. 

I  enclose  you  another  and  better  copy  of  the  beautiful  and 


Letters  281 

spontaneous  expression  from  my  command,  with  the  endorse 
ments  thereon.  General  Grant,  upon  placing  his  own  there, 
sent  me  word  he  would  like  to  forward  it  to  the  Department 
to-day  ;  when  I  called  to  express  my  acknowledgments,  told 
me  it  would  be  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  him.  I  think 
you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  endorsements  are  better 
worth  to  me  than  the  rank  would  be  without  them.  They 
are  something  for  those  who  come  after  me  to  keep,  and  the 
document  showing  the  fact  that  all  those  I  command  desire 
me  to  lead  them  who  have  been  with  me  in  danger  and  death 
for  so  many  long  months,  that  all  those  I  have  served  under 
have  confidence  in  me  still  ;  that  wdth  confidence  I  have 
friendship  and  affection,  is  surely  worth  preservation.  How 
much  better  this  than  the  fulsome  compliments  of  a  news 
paper  bought  for  money  or  bribed  for  service.  I  hardly  hope 
even  all  this  will  bring  me  promotion  ;  and  yet,  in  the  here 
after,  opportunity  may  give  the  hope  of  glory.  I  may  be 
blessed  with  the  chance  to  win  a  place  among  ' '  the  few,  the 
immortal  names  that  were  not  born  to  die, "  or  if  the  Presi 
dent  chooses,  he  may  brevet  me.  I  believe  he  has  recently 
been  clothed  with  power  to  brevet.  If  not  that,  it  will 
trouble  the  powers  that  be  a  good  deal  to  take  my  command 
from  me,  and  I  will  fight  my  way  through  as  a  colonel  to  the 
end. 

March  13,  1863. 

I  have  taken  up  my  quarters  for  the  present  with  General 
Sherman  ;  I  found  the  boat  unhealthy  and  disagreeable.  I 
shall  write  again  in  a  day  or  two. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 

CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  March  16,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  have  changed  quarters  again  and  am  now  domiciled  in  a 
tolerably  comfortable  home  under  the  same  roof,  and  mess 
ing,  with  General  Sherman.  My  despatches  are  delayed, 


282  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  I  now  open  my  package  to  advise  you  of  the  receipt  of 
your  affectionate  letter  by  Captain  McCoy,  who  also  brought 
me  a  small  keg  of  whiskey,  most  acceptable. 

I  note  your  enclosures  and  all  you  say  about  my  promo 
tion.  As  you  will  perceive  by  the  enclosed  testimonial 
(not  the  copy  I  intended  to  send — a  certified  one  from  head 
quarters,  and  which  for  the  present  I  intend  to  keep)  that  my 
record  is  as  near  perfection  as  anyone  could  hope.  I  am 
satisfied  and  can  afford  to  wait  for  my  country  as  long  as  she 
can  wait  for  me.  You  have  done  everything,  and  I  have  not 
been  backward.  We  need  not  worry  about  it. 

General  Grant  and  General  Sherman  have  done  everything 
for  me  they  could — will  do  anything  I  ask  that  they  can 
do.  I  know  I  am  honored  with  the  friendship  of  both  and 
the  entire  confidence  of  one. 

If  you  do  write  to  General  Grant,  and  I  cannot  say  whether 
it  would  be  advisable  or  not,  I  would  rather  the  letter  should 
not  come  through  me,  or  know  anything  about  it.  I  do  hope 
you  received  General  Sherman's  noble  reply  to  yours  ;  it 
was  due  before  the  dates  of  your  letter  March  3d. 

You  must  not  suppose  me  reckless  ;  I  am  not  so.  It  is 
true  I  have  been  singled  out  for  many  a  shot,  and  God  alone 
has  protected  me,  but  I  go  upon  the  battlefield  to  do  my 
duty  ;  nothing  more.  I  take  no  risks  that  the  service  does 
not  demand.  I  think  too  much  of  my  family  to  throw  away 
my  life. 


HEADQUARTERS,  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"YOUNG'S  POINT,"  LA.,  March  27,  1863. 
MY  DKAR  WIFE  : 

On  the  lyth  inst.,  ten  days  ago,  my  command,  with  the 
residue  of  General  Sherman's  old  division,  was  suddenly 
ordered  to  reinforce  Admiral  Porter's  fleet  of  gunboats, 
which  had  advanced  up  Steele's  Bayou,  with  a  view  to  an 
attack  upon  Yazoo  City.  The  order  came  after  midnight  ; 


Letters  283 

and  by  daybreak  we  were  embarked  upon  transports  and 
under  weigh,  leaving  our  horses,  transportation,  and  all 
impedimenta  behind.  The  infantry  accomplished  all  that 
was  expected,  but  the  Admiral  was  frustrated  in  his  designs. 
To-night  we  are  returned  to  our  old  camping  ground  and  I 
am  accepting  General  Grant's  hospitality,  and  propose  to 
stay  on  board  the  Magnolia,  his  headquarters. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  April  3,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

We  are  fully  aware  of  the  feelings  toward  Sherman. 
We  know  the  antagonism  against  the  Army  of  the  South 
west.  We  know  the  efforts  of  traitors  at  home,  and  those 
who  are  not  called  traitors  but  who  nevertheless  would  re 
joice  at  the  failure  of  his  army  to  open  the  Mississippi,  jeal 
ousy  is  rampant  ;  war,  more  terrible  civil  war  than  we  have 
yet  known,  will  desolate  the  North  as  well  as  the  South. 
My  friends  at  home  will  remember  my  prophecies  two  years 
and  one  year  ago.  The  rebellion,  revolution,  call  it  what 
you  will,  is  not  understood. 

David  Stuart  has  been  rejected  by  the  Senate.  He  is  now 
neither  general  nor  colonel,  and  is  only  waiting  from  day  to 
day  an  order  to  relieve  him  from  his  command.  Of  course 
it  will  affect  me  and  at  once.  He  was  my  immediate  ranking 
commander,  and  his  place  will  be  filled,  I  suppose,  by  Frank 
Blair.  I  shall  not  be  immediately  affected  in  my  command 
—that  is,  I  shall  retain  my  brigade — but  aside  from  this  I 
am  seriously  and  personally  grieved.  General  Stuart  has 
been  my  near,  dear,  and  most  intimate  friend  :  his  place  as 
such  to  me  in  the  army  can  never  be  filled.  Of  splendid 
genius,  most  liberal  education,  wonderful  accomplishments, 
as  scholar,  orator,  lawyer,  statesman,  and  now  soldier.  With 
the  courage  and  chivalry  of  a  knight  of  old,  and  the  sweet 
ness  and  fascination  of  a  woman,  he  won  me  to  his  heart, 


284  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  no  outrage  .  .  .  has  affected  me  more  than  his 
rejection.  I  have  no  patience  to  write  about  it  or  think 
about  it.  The  blow  was  unexpected  by  all  of  us.  Gen 
erals  Grant  and  Sherman,  Stuart  and  I  never  thought  of 
such  a  thing — could  not  guard  against  it.  When  I  first 
reported  at  Paducah  with  my  regiment  to  General  Sher 
man,  at  my  own  request,  for  I  had  known  him  in  Wash 
ington,  I  was  brigaded  with  him.  We  went  directly  into 
service  and  together.  We  fought  side  by  side  at  the  bat 
tle  of  Shiloh,  till  he  was  wounded,  when  I  assumed  his 
command.  We  made  all  the  advances  to  Corinth  together 
and  rode  side  by  side  in  the  long  marches  through  Tennes 
see.  We  fought  at  Chickasas  Bayou  and  at  Arkansas  Post, 
and  advanced  together  at  "  Young's  Point. ' '  Many  and  many 
a  long  night's  watch  I  made  with  him,  many  a  bivouac  in 
the  open  air  through  night  and  storm  and  darkness,  always 
sharing  our  canteens  and  haversacks.  Had  I  been  killed  he 
would  have  perilled  life  to  save  my  body.  Was  my  honor 
assailed,  he  the  first  to  defend  it ;  little  I  could  ask  of  him 
he  would  not  grant,  and  when  I  say  to  you  that  he  was 
really  the  only  real,  true,  thoroughly  appreciative  friend  I 
have  in  the  army  who  I  care  much  about,  you  may  imagine 
how  irreparable  is  my  loss.  His  character  is  not  well  under 
stood  in  the  community,  because  an  unfortunate  notoriety 
attached  to  him  in  the  .  .  .  case. 

His  own  sufferings  therein  turned  him  prematurely  gray  in 
a  very  few  months.  His  father  was  a  partner  of  John  Jacob 
Astor  in  the  celebrated  American  Fur  Company,  and  made 
for  Astor  ten  millions  of  dollars.  He  was  educated  at  An- 
dover  and  in  Boston,  and  was  the  protege  of  Mrs.  Harrison 
Gray  Otis.  He  was  brought  into  life  very  early,  and  married 
into  the  Brevoort  family  in  New  York,  but  being  a  great 
favorite  of  General  Cass,  was  brought  into  politics  in  Michi 
gan.  At  a  very  early  age  he  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  of 
Detroit,  and  immediately  afterwards  represented  the  Detroit 
district  in  Congress  ;  there  I  made  his  acquaintance.  He 
abandoned  political  life  to  take  the  solicitorship  of  the  great 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which  gave  him  the  control  of  the 


Letters  285 

railway  influence  of  the  entire  State  and  Northwest  ;  and  he 
abandoned  stipulated  salaries  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
per  annum  to  enter  the  service,  having  expended  upwards 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  put  two  regiments  into  the 
field.  He  has  travelled  largely  in  Europe  and  in  Canada  ; 
his  family  are  in  the  army  and  navy,  he  is  exceedingly 
familiar  with  military  life  and  has  a  most  decided  taste  for  it. 
His  record  is  clean  and  bright,  one  to  be  proud  of ;  he  exerts 
a  wider  and  better  influence  than  any  other  man  in  this 
army,  and  why  he  should  have  been  thrown  over  is  a 
mystery. 

The  roses  are  blooming  here  and  the  figs  are  as  large  as 
marbles,  the  foliage  is  coming  out  green  and  the  mocking 
birds  hold  high  carnival.  This  is  a  famous  country  for 
flowers  and  singing  birds.  My  horses  are  all  well.  If  there 
was  any  safe  opportunity,  and  I  thought  you  could  manage 
them,  I  would  send  two  or  three  home  ;  they  are  very  high- 
strung  and  want  a  master's  hand.  Bugles  and  bayonets 
don't  tend  to  depress  the  spirits  of  a  good  horse,  and  mine 
are  the  best  in  the  army. 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"  YOUNG'S  POINT,"  L,A.,  April  9,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  BESSIE  : 

How  is  the  little  baby  brother  ?  I  think  of  him  a  good 
deal,  and  how  anxious  you  all  must  have  been  for  his  re 
covery.  I  have  had  something  to  worry  me  here  too  in  my 
other  great  family.  I  have  a  good  many  children  to  look 
after  here,  and  many  of  them  get  sick  and  some  of  them  die. 
Perhaps  mother  will  recollect  a  letter  she  received  from  my 
aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Seeds,  a  letter,  I  think,  she  did 
not  answer,  but  which  was  written  just  after  the  battle  of 
Chickasas  Bluffs  to  apprise  her  of  my  safety.  The  writer 
was  a  brave,  gallant  young  man  of  singular  beauty  and  fine 
address,  a  graduate  of  Delaware  College,  who  had  enlisted 
in  my  old  Zouave  regiment  as  a  private  and  from  principle, 


286  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

for  his  father  was  rich.  A  long  time  I  sought  promotion  for 
him,  and  at  last  succeeded,  and  when  I  had  obtained  his 
commission,  I  placed  him  on  my  staff  to  have  him  near  my 
person.  He  rode  well  and  boldly,  with  a  firm  seat  and  a 
light  hand  and  in  both  battles  staid  by  my  side,  never  leaving 
me  but  to  take  an  order.  At  Arkansas  Post  he  was  so  dash 
ing  and  conspicuous  as  to  bring  cheers  from  both  armies. 
Well,  when  we  debarked  at  "Young's  Point "  I  was  harassed 
with  much  responsibility,  and  far  in  front  had  to  fight  the 
enemy,  and  the  elements,  and  the  great  Mississippi  River, 
and  for  two  days  and  two  nights  hardly  dismounted  save  to 
change  horses.  I  forgot  or  was  careless  to  think  that  my 
aides  were  not  iron,  or  steel,  or  capable  of  my  own  endurance, 
and  instead  of  changing  them  as  I  changed  my  horses,  let 
them  stay  with  me,  and  the  third  day  they  sickened,  and 
poor  Frank  never  got  well.  He  pined  and  weakened  day  by 
day — would  n't  give  up,  game  to  the  very  last — and  I  nursed 
him  as  best  I  could  in  his  tent,  but  it  was  very  cold  and  wet, 
raining  almost  every  day.  His  disease  was  typhoid,  not 
much  pain,  but  wasting  fever,  and  the  poor  fellow  would 
come  out  with  his  overcoat  and  sit  shivering  by  the  camp 
fire  between  the  showers  ;  couldn't  drink  whiskey,  or  smoke 
tobacco,  our  only  luxuries;  couldn't  eat,  and  would  lie 
awake  all  night,  and  listen  to  the  shells  hissing  over  us  (for 
we  were  close  to  the  canal  and  within  range  of  it,  and  in 
those  early  days  of  the  siege  they  harassed  us)  and  look  up 
at  me  with  his  great  eyes  glistening  with  fever.  I  had  no 
comfort  for  him,  only  a  word  of  cheer,  but  I  did  n't  think  he 
would  die,  and  so  at  last  when  we  thought  he  was  a  little 
better,  and  he  had  been  sick  four  long  weeks,  I  had  him 
carried  down  to  the  boat  on  a  stretcher,  placed  on  what  they 
call  a  hospital  boat — that  is,  a  steamer  with  the  whole  cabin 
fixtures  taken  out,  no  state  rooms,  but  in  their  place,  long 
lines  of  cots,  and  some  boats  carry  a  thousand.  There  I  dis 
posed  him  as  comfortably  as  I  could  and  took  leave,  he 
weeping,  for  he  was  tenderly  attached  to  me,  and  I  gave 
him  letters  to  you  all,  told  him  to  go  to  the  house  and  you 
would  nurse  him  and  when  he  got  well  to  come  back,  and 
we  would  ride  together  again  in  battle,  saw  that  he  had  some 


Letters  287 

money  and  left  him,  and  to-day  they  write  me  he  is  dead. 
He  only  got  as  far  as  Memphis  ;  relapse,  hospital,  and — ' '  he 
has  fought  his  last  battle."  Only  twenty-five,  tall,  finely 
formed,  beautiful  bright  chestnut  hair,  red  chestnut,  frank 
open  countenance,  the  soul  of  honor  ;  and  so  they  drop  away 
from  me,  and  all  my  best  men,  all  I  love  most,  are  shot  down 
or  die. 

Did  I  write  you  about  the  flowers  and  the  birds,  the  sweet 
est,  most  eloquent  birds  you  ever  heard,  and  the  prince  of  all 
of  them,  the  mocking  bird,  sings  all  the  day  and  of  a  verity 
all  the  night  long.  You  could  n'  t  hear  the  mocking  bird  in 
perfection  anywhere  but  here,  and  wild  ;  I  ought  not  to  say 
wild,  either,  for  the  pert,  game  little  rascal  is  as  tame  as  a 
chicken  ;  he  '11  just  hop  out  of  your  way,  and  that  's  all — 
but  what  a  flood  of  song  he  pours  forth  !  There  's  one  fellow 
who  has  built  his  nest  not  far  off  upon  the  topmost  limb  of  a 
fig  tree,  a  little  way  from  my  tent,  and  there  he  has  whistled 
since  before  reveille  this  morning  everything  that  any  bird 
ever  whistled  before  him,  making  the  welkin  ring  with  his 
melody.  He  has  to  help  the  thrush  and  the  red  bird  and 
the  black  bird  and  the  rice  bird  ;  but  altogether.  They  haveA 
a  royal  time  of  it  while  the  figs  are  ripening  and  the  roses 
bloom  ;  the  delicate  sweet  roses,  we  used  to  cultivate  with  so 
much  care,  pout  their  lips  and  ask  for  kisses  in  March,  and 
keep  on  blooming  on  great  bushes  till  December.  All  the 
monthlies,  the  Giant,  Marie  Antoinette,  Souvenirs,  beautiful 
white  roses,  such  as  you  rarely  see,  and  all,  almost  without 
cultivation,  perfume  the  air,  with  woodbine  and  every  variety 
of  honeysuckle  all  out  now.  The  weather  is  perfectly  de 
licious,  neither  too  warm  nor  too  cold,  just  right  for  a  blanket 
or  two  at  night,  a  dashing  gallop  in  the  morning,  a  cool  walk 
on  the  parade  at  eventide  ;  moonlight  such  as  you  never 
dreamed  of,  and  oh,  such  sunsets  !  I  used  to  think  they 
could  get  up  a  pretty  fair  performance  of  this  kind  at  Mac-o- 
cheek,  when  I  was  young  and  romantic,  and  before  you  were 
thought  of,  but  a  sunset  on  the  Mississippi  is  beyond  com 
pare  ;  and  to  stand  by  the  broad  river  side  at  night,  when 
its  surface  is  glassy  and  still,  and  by  the  clear  moonlight 
see  the  reflection  in  the  water,  is  worth  several  days'  journey. 


288  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

This  sunny  South  is  very  sweet ;  its  clime  almost  genial. 
No  one  can  wonder  they  love  it,  and  my  theory  of  the  war 
now  is  just  to  go  on  and  take  it.  I  approve  of  colonizing  as 
we  go,  open  the  crevasse  and  let  the  Northern  hordes  flood 
through,  and  like  the  waters  of  the  great  river  spread  over 
the  plain  not  to  return  again  to  the  parent  rills,  but  to  fer 
tilize  and  fructify  the  earth. 

I  have  been  quiescent  and  still  for  eight  or  ten  days,  a 
good  while  for  me,  and  am  disciplining  and  drilling  my  sol 
diers  in  a  beautiful  and  most  convenient  camp.  Upon  so 
spacious  a  plain  I  can  pitch  the  tents  of  my  whole  brigade  in 
the  rear  of  a  continuous  color  line,  when  all  the  regiments 
are  out  on  dress  parade.  I  assure  you  it  is  a  pleasant  sight 
these  pleasant  evenings.  In  the  intervals  of  drill,  the  men 
play  ball,  the  whole  plain  is  carefully  polished  and  smooth  as 
a  floor.  How  long  we  shall  enjoy  our  pleasant  rest  nobody 
knows.  I  suppose  we  must  look  out  for  the  gallinippers 
next  month.  We  had  already  one  or  two  little  tastes  of 
their  quality. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 

YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  April  1-9,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

The  weather  here  is  cool  and  delightfully  pleasant.  The 
climate  of  Louisiana  is  much  misunderstood  at  the  North. 
The  nights  are  cool  enough  now  for  two  or  three  blankets  ; 
mornings  and  evenings  fresh  ;  sun  rather  oppressive  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  We  have  flies,  but  no  mosquitoes  yet, 
where  my  camp  is  pitched.  I  apprehend  great  trouble  from 
them  hereafter,  though,  and  have  no  bar.  One  of  my  officers 
on  detached  service,  within  a  few  miles,  reports  to  me  that 
he  has  eaten  alligator  steak  and  chowder,  and  that  yesterday 
they  killed  one  that  measured  nine  feet.  He  reports  also 
bear  and  deer  and  other  wild  game.  The  woods  here  now 
are  vividly  green,  vocal  with  song  of  birds,  and  all  flowers 
are  blooming.  I  saw  a  handful  of  ripe  strawberries  that  were 
gathered  more  than  a  week  ago. 


Letters  289 

Most  plantations  within  reach  of  us  are  despoiled,  so  that 
no  fruits  or  vegetables  can  be  had  ;  we  see  ruins  and  hear  of 
what  might  have  been.  A  blessed  paradise  being  turned 
into  a  howling  wilderness. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIG.,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 
YOUNG'S  POINT,  I^A.,  April  23,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

By  the  enclosed  order,  you  will  see  that  I  am  virtually 
mustered  out  of  the  service.  My  regiment,  by  the  accident 
and  casuality  of  camp  and  bivouac,  march  and  battle,  having 
been  reduced  to  less  than  one  half  of  the  maximum  number 
prescribed  by  law.  I  only  wait  to  be  relieved  from  my  com 
mand  by  order  of  the  commanding  general.  The  army  is  on 
the  eve  of  what  I  consider  a  desperate  enterprise.  I  believe 
the  movement  is  forced  by  the  folly  and  madness  of  poli 
ticians  at  home,  (and  by  home  I  mean  the  pleasant  places  of 
safety  far  away  from  the  bayou  and  the  swamp,  the  slippery 
deck,  the  lonely  picket,)  to  destroy  the  army  or  break  down 
its  leaders,  which  will  be  the  same  thing.  I  cannot  fix  the 
blame  upon  individuals,  I  do  not  speak  from  a  sense  of  indi 
vidual  outrage.  For  a  }rear  past  I  have  seen  a  splendid 
army  crippled  and  its  efforts  rendered  abortive  by  the  insane 
policy  of  imbecile  rulers.  I  foresee  the  loss  of  another  year. 
The  order  alluded  to  will  go  farther  to  destroy  the  army 
than  a  campaign  of  five  years  with  such  soldiers  as  we 
have  now  trained. 

What  the  course  of  the  generals  will  be  in  my  case,  I  do 
not  know.  I  must  go  on,  till  an  order  comes  relieving  me 
from  my  command  ;  of  course  in  the  field  and  anticipating 
an  early  engagement  I  cannot  as  a  man  of  honor  ask  my 
discharge,  which  I  have  the  right  to  claim  forthwith.  The 
order  will  be  embarrassing.  I  do  not  propose  to  say  what 
has  passed  between  General  Sherman,  General  Blair,  and 
myself,  regarding  the  matter.  I  had  occasion  the  other  day 
to  test  the  temper  of  the  soldiers.  The  whole  division,  three 
brigades  and  four  batteries,  were  drawn  up  in  hollow  square 


290  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

to  hear  General  Thomas  announce  the  policy  of  the  Presi 
dent.  After  he  had  concluded,  General  Sherman  and  Gen 
eral  Blair,  who  were  on  the  platform  with  him,  followed  with 
speeches,  and  as  they  had  concluded,  General  Thomas  in 
vited  the  soldiers  to  call  for  whom  they  pleased.  I  think  it 
would  have  done  your  heart  good  to  hear  some  seven  thou 
sand  voices  ring  out  clear  for  Kilby  Smith.  There  was  no 
mistaking  that  sort  of  demonstration  or  the  yell  that  greeted 
me  as  I  mounted  the  platform.  Still  soldiers  are  fickle  as 
the  rest  of  mankind.  To-morrow  it  may  be  somebody  else, 
the  pet  of  popular  favor,  to  yield  in  his  turn  to  his  successor. 
If  I  had  the  regiment  alone,  I  would  not  hesitate  a  moment 
as  to  my  course  ;  with  the  brigade  it  is  different  and  I  must 
bide  patiently.  I  had  hoped  to  be  bre vetted,  that  chance  is 
cut  off.  I  have  ceased  to  hope  the  appointment  of  brigadier- 
general.  I  have  a  ' '  heart  for  any  fate. ' ' 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 
YOUNG'S  POINT,  LA.,  April  25,  1863. 


With  us  now  is  the  excessive  calm  and  quiet  of  a  camp 
just  preceding  a  march,  and  when  all  the  regiments  have 
marching  orders  ;  no  hurry,  no  bustle,  each  man  at  his  post 
and  packing  his  own  kit.  Monday  we  move,  first  by  trans 
port,  then  the  march.  No  tents,  one  blanket  to  each  man. 
March  light ;  that 's  the  order.  Sixty  rounds  of  ammunition 
in  the  cartridge  box  and  on  the  person.  One  hundred  extra 
in  the  wagons,  per  man,  that  means  business.  The  sun 
shines  bright,  but  the  soft  South  wind  blows  balmy  and 
fans  one's  cheek  like  the  breath  of  angels  ;  nature  is  hushed 
in  expectancy.  Next  the  rattle  of  the  cannon  and  the  rolling 
of  the  drum. 


We  have  news  to-night  that  they  are  fighting  in  Tennes 
see,  over  our  old  battleground.  There  '11  be  some  fun  this 
summer  all  around  or  I  'm  mistaken.  Long  time  before  the 


Letters  291 

"  thirsty  Erinnys  of  this  soil  shall  cease  to  daub  her  lips  with 
her  own  children's  blood,  or  trenching  war  to  channel  her 
fields  and  bruise  her  flowrets  with  the  armed  hoofs  of  hostile 
paces. ' ' 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 
CAMP  BEFORE  VICKSBURG,  April  27,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

' '  Man  proposes  and  God  disposes. ' '  In  my  letter  of  Satur 
day,  I  advised  you  all  that  we  should  march  to-day,  and  that 
night,  the  heavens  opened  and  the  rains  descended  and 
the  floods  came  and  we  remain  in  statu  quo.  L,ast  night  cer 
tain  boats  ran  the  blockade  of  Vicksburg  in  the  midst  of  a 
tremendous  thunder  storm  and  as  the  cannon  from  the 
enemy's  batteries  belched  forth  death  and  destruction,  the 
elemental  war  began  and  heaven's  artillery  pealed.  All 
night  the  earth  was  convulsed,  the  ear  deafened  with  sound 
and  fury,  and  to-day  the  clouds  are  weeping,  the  ground  lies 
drenched,  and  the  trees  hang  their  branches  as  if  in  despair. 
The  storm  is  the  forerunner  of  certain  lengthened  rains 
which  may  be  expected  here  at  this  season,  and  will  retard, 
if  not  materially  disarrange,  the  plans  heretofore  matured. 
In  my  former  letters  I  have  indicated  my  want  of  confidence 
in  their  results,  and  have  not  yet  seen  fit  to  change  my 
opinion.  The  order  of  march  is  rescinded  and  we  await  here 
further  orders.  You  note  in  the  papers  frequent  mention  of 
the  blockade  and  the  running  of  the  same,  and  for  your 
edification,  I  will  essay  some  description  of  what  it  means, 
for  on  one  or  two  nights  I  have  been  close  within  sight  and 
range  on  shore,  and  four  nights  ago  in  company  with  General 
Blair  and  some  naval  officers  went  down  with  the  gunboats 
on  a  small  steamboat  tug,  as  it  is  called  (literally  a  ' '  tug  of 
war  "),  to  the  scene  of  the  conflict.  The  ground  we  occupy, 
as  I  have  before  informed  you,  is  in  the  shape  of  a  long  and 
narrow  horseshoe,  and  the  distance  from  Young's  Point,  a 
landing  directly  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River,  to 


292  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  furtherest  point  of  toe  of  the  horseshoe  is  about  six  miles. 
Immediately  in  front  of  this  latter  point  are  the  Court  House 
and  principal  buildings  of  Vicksburg,  which  is  situate  upon 
one  of  a  range  of  high  bluffs,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  our  level  ;  these  bluffs  extend  around  us  in  the  shape 
of  a  vast  amphitheatre,  and  at  regular  intervals  their  heights 
are  crowned  with  batteries,  while  at  their  base  are  placed 
what  are  called  water  batteries.  A  battery,  as  it  is  termed,  is 
usually  applied  to  a  collection  of  several  guns.  The  term  is 
also  used  in  speaking  of  the  arrangements  made  of  a  parapet 
to  fire  over  it  or  through  openings  in  it.  I  don't  want  to 
bore  you  with  technicalities,  but  a  knowledge  of  them  is  so 
often  erroneously  presupposed  that  many  otherwise  good  de 
scriptions  lose  their  force.  Upon  and  around  this  amphi 
theatre,  then,  you  must  imagine  one  hundred  batteries,  and 
as  they  change  from  point  to  point  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  guns.  The  calibre  of  these  guns  is  from  six  pounds, 
that  of  the  light  field  piece,  to  one  hundred  pound  Parrots  ; 
of  these  latter  there  are  but  two  or  three.  The  major  part  of 
their  metal,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  is  from  ten  to  thirty 
pounds.  Now  you  must  know  that  the  pointblank  range 
of  sixpounder  guns  is  about  six  hundred  yards,  and  that  of 
twelve-pounder  guns  about  seven  hundred  yards  ;  that  the 
chances  of  hitting  a  mark  are  less  with  pieces  of  small  than 
of  large  calibre,  owing  to  windage,  the  effect  of  wind,  etc. 
That  the  rate  of  firing  is  about  forty  seconds  a  shot  for  field 
pieces,  and  about  one  minute  for  twelve-pounders,  but  that 
when  the  enemy  is  close  at  hand  and  deliberate  aim  not 
necessary,  two  rounds  may  be  fired  per  minute.  With  these 
explanations  you  may  have  some  faint  idea  of  what  running 
the  blockade  means,  when  I  further  inform  you  that  our  fleet 
of  transports  has  been  lying  from  Young's  Point  along 
shore  down  stream  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  mouth  of 
the  canal  ;  that  they  have  been  guarded  by  gunboats  lying 
at  the  mouth  and  a  short  distance  up  the  Yazoo  ;  that  when 
it  is  proposed  to  go  around,  a  dark  night  is  selected  or  some 
times  in  a  moonlight  night  after  the  moon  has  set.  The 
boats  having  been  protected  all  round  the  machinery,  in 
front,  and  along  the  side  presented  to  the  enemy,  with  cotton 


Letters  293 

bales,  bales  of  hay,  etc.,  are  divested  as  far  as  possible  of 
their  crew,  a  full  head  of  steam  is  had  on,  and  paddling 
slowly  and  cautiously  till  they  arrive  at  the  bend,  full 
power  is  put  on,  and  they  go  by  as  best  they  can,  one  at  a 
time.  The  enemy  is  always  on  the  lookout,  and  the  signal 
gun  is  followed  by  continuous  roar  from  all  till  the  boats 
pass  below  Warrenton,  five  miles  from  the  bend  and  the  ter 
minus  of  their  fortifications.  The  heavens  are  lighted  up  by 
the  beacon  fires  of  the  enemy  and  what  are  called  calcium 
lights,  so  constructed  as  to  throw  broad  and  bright  reflec 
tions  on  the  water,  and  so  point  out  the  passing  boats.  The 
flashes  of  their  cannon  make  almost  a  continuous  line  of 
bright  light,  the  booming  reports  shake  the  ground  and 
water,  and  make  boats  and  houses  tremble  as  by  an  earth 
quake.  If  the  transports  are  convoyed,  as  has  twice  been 
done,  by  gunboats,  these  reply,  and  if  the  boats  are  struck, 
as  frequently  happens,  the  cotton  is  fired  by  exploding  shells, 
bundles  of  bales  blazing  with  lurid  light  are  cast  into  the 
water,  floating  for  miles,  and  whirled  by  the  eddies.  The 
river  now  appears  one  broad  stream  of  flame,  a  boat  is  sunk, 
one  or  two  are  burning,  sailors  are  seen  making  their  way  to 
shore,  on  boards  or  boats.  The  riflemen  of  the  enemy  line 
the  shore,  and  the  sharp  report  of  small  pieces  with  the 
waspish  sing  of  the  balls,  is  occasionally  distinguished  above 
all  the  din.  They  shoot  at  those  endeavoring  to  escape  ; 
they  fire  whole  volleys  at  the  broadside  of  the  steamer  in  the 
hope  of  killing  one  man.  The  pickets  on  our  own  lines  pace 
rapidly  upon  their  beat,  they  are  within  range,  the  reserves 
are  upon  the  shore  to  give  succor  to  the  drowning  ;  outside 
of  this  hell  all  is  blackness  and  the  darkness  of  night.  These 
boats,  in  fine,  go  round  ;  the  others  are  helpless,  hopeless 
wrecks.  Day  dawns,  and  the  river  is  banked  with  smoke  of 
the  conflict.  A  body  floats  by,  the  entrails  are  all  torn  out  ; 
it  is  the  pilot,  who  was  cut  across  the  belly  by  a  passing  shell. 
Few  lives  are  lost,  for  few  of  the  living  attempted  the  voy 
age  ;  the  bodies,  if  found,  will  be  buried  ;  if  not,  will  be 
come  food  for  the  alligator  or  the  gar.  A  few  jokes  through 
the  day,  and  all  is  forgotten  in  the  next  order  of  march  or 
preparations  for  another  run.  The  boats  are  manned  by 


294  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

volunteers  ;  there  are  always  enough  for  the  purpose,  and 
yet  they  know  there  is  no  glory  to  be  gained,  that  their 
names,  even,  will  never  be  known  beyond  their  company  or 
regiment,  that  they  must  pass  within  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  three  hundred  yards  of  the  cannon's  mouth  ;  batteries 
manned  by  men  hellbent  on  their  destruction.  "  Into  the 
jaws  of  death,  into  the  mouth  of  hell,"  with  wild  halloo  and 
bacchanal  song,  a  curse  if  they  '  re  hit,  an  oath  if  they  escape, 
they  go  to  destruction,  mayhap,  not  to  glory.  So  much  for 
running  the  blockade.  When  I  feel  quite  like  it,  I  '11  send 
you  a  map  and  explain  the  country  about  here,  and  tell  you 
why  we  don't  take  Vicksburg.  If  anybody  should  ask  you 
that  question,  just  tell  them  it  is  because  we  have  no  ground 
to  stand  upon.  It  is  all  water  and  swamp  for  miles  below  us 
and  every  inch  of  the  opposite  side  disputed.  If  we  get  a 
standpoint  for  operations,  then  we  drive  them,  if  needs  be, 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  We  must  wait  the  turn  of 
events.  I  see  the  Admiral  made  a  failure  at  Charleston. 
We  have  just  got  the  news,  and  Congress  with  the  President 
determines  to  cripple  the  army.  Well,  "  those  whom  the 
gods  destroy,  they  first  make  mad. ' ' 

I  wish  I  had  something  else  to  write  to  you  about — some 
thing  that  would  be  more  interesting  than  the  army.  I  am 
in  a  close  circumscribed  sphere,  with  limited  knowledge  of 
the  outside  world  ;  the  2yth  of  the  month,  and  my  latest 
dates  the  i5th — of  course  I  am  far  behind  the  age.  Wife's 
poetry  is  very  pretty,  and  Colonel  Fisher  was  pleased  to  get 
it.  I  have  just  managed  to  secure  his  promotion.  It  will 
do  him  but  little  good  ;  like  the  others  I  have  loved  and 
lost,  he  is  doomed.  I  give  him  about  one  month  more  and 
then  I  think  he  will  go  under.  There  was  another  very  fine 
and  gallant  young  man  in  the  regiment,  Captain  Williams. 
I  had  him  promoted  to  Major  and  the  very  day  his  commis 
sion  arrived,  he  was  seized  with  small-pox  and  is  now  in  the 
pest  hospital.  He  was  struck  in  the  breast  by  a  Minie-ball 
in  the  charge  at  Chickasas  ;  he  has  been  very  weak  since, 
and  I  think  this  is  the  last  of  him.  I  think  I  shall  counsel 
Colonel  Fisher  to  resign  ;  his  is  a  valuable  life. 


Letters  295 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C. 

CAMP  NEAR  V-BURG,  WALNUT  HILLS  IN  THE  REAR 
AND  BEFORE  FORTIFICATIONS,  May  23,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

'  The  bugles  sing  truce,  and  the  night  cloud  has  lowered," 
and  I  have  brief  season  to  say  that  I  am  alive  and  unscathed, 
though  since  Thursday  last,  this  being  Saturday  at  one,  I 
have  been  in  a  slaughter  pen.  I  have  this  moment  come 
from  my  hospital  in  the  rear — my  first  duty  after  putting  my 
troops  under  some  sort  of  protection  from  fire,  such  as  the 
ravines  could  give,  was  there.  God  help  us — a  fearful,  fearful 
sight.  I  have  seen  agony  and  death  in  all  its  phases,  but 
never  before  have  as  many  of  my  own,  my  own  good,  true, 
leal  hearts,  draining  off  drop  by  drop  their  best  blood  in  mor 
tal  agony,  been  bared  before  me.  One  of  my  pet  colonels  is 
shot  through,  maimed  for  life,  if  life  is  saved  at  all.  Cap 
tains,  lieutenants,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  so  many 
private  soldiers.  My  official  reports  are  not  all  in,  but  I 
must  lose  out  of  my  own  command  nearly  three  hundred, 
and  these  my  bravest  and  best.  God  !  what  a  charge  it  was  ! 
Talk  of  Balaklava — it  sinks  into  insignificance.  And  they 
went  on  horseback,  while  we  had  to  work  in  on  foot,  over 
tangled  abattis,  up  precipitous  hills,  and  against  ramparts 
bristling  with  cannon  and  rifle  ;  the  pits  behind  filled  with 
soldiers  ready  with  the  hand  grenade,  and  under  a  con 
stantly  enfilading  fire.  You  have  read  of  hurling  masses  of 
men.  I  wish  I  could  write — language  utterly  fails  me.  Not 
now  at  least.  You  will  read  I  suppose  something  of  it.  We 
have  been  in  battle  for  days,  but  the  charges,  the  attempts 
to  carry  the  place  by  assault, — then  was  the  very  pitch,  the 
culminating  grand  climax  and  fever  drama  of  battle,  only 
horses  were  wanting.  My  men  came  on  so  gallantly  ;  not 
one  to  falter.  I  turned  back  to  see  them  swept  down  in 
ranks.  Their  comrades  rushed  over  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 
I  planted  two  stands  of  colors  on  the  outer  verge  ;  these 
stand  upon  the  crest  .  .  .  just  behind.  Men  could  not 
scale  a  perpendicular  wall  of  fifteen  feet.  Men  could  not 
have  gone  up  without  guns  in  their  hands  and  with  no 


296  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

enemy  in  front.  We  did  all  mortal  man  could  do — but  such 
slaughter  !  Our  division  lost  six  hundred  and  eighty  the 
first  day  ;  yesterday  probably  a  thousand.  We  shall  cer 
tainly  lose  fifteen  hundred,  and  of  those  our  bravest  and 
best.  My  men  are  so  gallant.  I  have  n't  a  coward  in  my 
brigade.  But  if  you  could  see  their  ghastly  wounds,  the 
faces  of  the  dead.  I  have  been  on  many  battlefields,  none 
like  this,  no  such  slaughter  in  so  brief  a  space  of  time  ;  not 
so  many  of  my  own  to  mourn.  I  ought  not  to  write  you 
now  ;  ought  not  to  write  to  any  one  in  my  present  frame  of 
mind,  but  I  have  an  opportunity  to  send.  I  have  just  un 
buckled  my  sword,  and  in  the  unnatural  calm  succeeding  a 
bloody,  bloody  battle,  pencil  to  you  that  I  am  well.  To 
morrow,  perchance,  the  jest  and  the  wine  cup,  maybe  the 
grave.  I  hope  not  the  hospital.  Oh,  that  horrid,  horrid, 
damnable  hospital  !  Rather  a  thousand  deaths  in  the  glori 
ous  enthusiasm  of  battle  than  an  hour's  torture  on  that  table. 
We  cannot  take  Vicksburg  by  assault  upon  the  rear 
through  these  fortifications.  They  are  masterpieces  of  skill 
in  military  engineering.  We  shall  approach  by  parallels, 
sap  and  mine.  Our  other  great  victories  before  reaching 
here  you  have  heard  of.  If  I  can  possibly  get  the  leisure 
you  shall  have  a  detailed  account  of  my  march,  and  engage 
ments  up  to  the  time  of  forming  the  first  line  of  battle  before 
the  fortifications.  God  has  spared  my  life.  I  hope  for  some 
good  purpose.  I  cannot  understand  it.  I  have  passed 
through  a  rain  of  bullets.  Why  is  it  ?  All  around  me  have 
been  cut  down.  So  many,  so  much  more  valuable  lives 
sacrificed  and  mine  spared.  I  am  ripe  ;  I  could  go  now. 
Oh  !  if  I  could  only  have  got  in  the  devils  would  have  fled  ; 
they  can't  fight  in  open  field  ;  it  is  only  behind  breastworks 
and  intrenchments.  God  help  Vicksburg  now,  if  our  soldiers 
do  get  in,  I  shall  be  deaf  and  blind  and  one  city  will  be 
sacked.  We  wax  hot  ;  the  battle  is  not  to  the  strong.  I  am 
running  away  in  rhapsody.  I  am  well,  unhurt.  I  stand  at 
the  head  of  what  is  left  of  as  brave  a  brigade  as  America  can 
boast.  It  is  known  as  the  "  fighting  brigade,"  and  well  has 
it  sustained  its  reputation.  I  am  proud  ;  not  quite  exulting 
in  victory,  though  we  have  driven  the  enemy  to  his  strong- 


Letters 


297 


hold.  We  have  desolated  his  towns  and  villages,  and  of 
pleasant  places  have  made  a  wilderness.  He  has  fled  before 
us  like  chaff  before  the  wind  ;  this  is  enough  for  you  all  to 
know  now.  I  am  well,  exultant,  my  armor  on,  my  face  to 
the  foe  ;  even  as  I  write  bullets  whistle  and  shells  hurtle 
about  me.  To-morrow,  if  it  comes  to  me,  or  the  next  day, 
I  will  write  you  in  detail.  I  am  writing  very  hurriedly 
now,  in  the  midst  of  much  excitement,  perhaps  not  lucidly. 
I  am  sitting  among  the  dead  and  must  bury  my  dead,  no 
shrift  or  shroud,  and  shallow  grave.  I  only  write  to  let  you 
know  I  am  safe  and  well.  There  are  brigadier-generals 
here,  with  bright,  new  stars  upon  their  shoulders,  but  with 
out  command,  who  are  doubtless  eagerly  seeking  my  place. 
Perhaps  I  shall  be  compelled  to  give  way  to  some  one  of 
them  ;  if  not,  before  I  put  my  sword  away  something  may  be 
accomplished.  So  much  of  myself.  You  are  this  night 
reading  the  papers  and  trembling  for  my  fate,  so  I  write,  and 
of  myself,  to  stay  your  grief  and  apprehension.  I  am  quite 
well.  God  grant  you  all  are  well.  Pray  for  me  now.  My 
spirit  is  proud  and  high  ;  it  goeth  before  destruction  ;  I 
cannot  subdue. 
God  bless  you  all. 

Your  affec.  Son, 

TOM. 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE,  SECOND  Div., 

FIFTEENTH  A.  C., 
WALNUT  Hm^,  Miss.,  May  25,  1863. 

I  wrote  you  a  hurried  note  yesterday  to  give  you  all  at 
home  assurance  of  my  safety.  I  am  to-day  in  receipt  of 
your  letters  of  May  29th,  enclosing  one  from  wife  advising 
of  the  death  of  Judge  Piatt,  and  of  May  5th,  and  from  Helen 
of  May  loth.  I  promised  you  yesterday  full  details  of  march 
and  fight,  and  for  convenience  (time  being  precious  and  op 
portunity  for  writing  scant),  substitute  diary  of  one  of  my 
clerks,  which  gives  the  main  facts,  and  enclose  for  reference 
a  map  to  accompany  same,  upon  which  route  of  army  can  be 
traced.  At  close  of  diary  you  will  perceive  I  have  been  re- 


298  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

lieved  from  my  command.  I  send  copy  of  correspondence 
between  General  Sherman  and  myself  which  ensued  upon 
reception  of  the  order,  the  only  explanation  I  have  to  offer. 
I  premise  the  same  by  a  copy  of  the  order  assigning  General 
Ivightburn. 

I  proposed  to  General  Sherman  either  of  three  courses,  to 
resign,  to  ask  to  be  mustered  out,  or  for  leave  of  absence. 
He  declines  to  entertain  either.  I  have  indicated  my  inten 
tion  to  refuse  the  command  of  my  regiment.  I  am  not  yet 
ordered  to  duty,  and  so  the  matter  stands.  Before  you  re 
ceive  this  letter  we  shall  probably  have  reduced  Vicksburg, 
or  have  had  another  very  bloody  fight  with  the  enemy  in  our 
rear.  In  the  event  of  a  battle  my  course  will  be  plain  ; 
meanwhile  I  shall  remain  quiescent  as  circumstances  will 
admit.  Our  late  engagements  have  been  very  bloody,  our 
losses  heavy,  the  enemy  must  have  suffered  hugely  in  killed 
and  wounded.  I  enclose  a  sketch  of  Vicksburg. 

In  respect  to  the  order  for  consolidation  of  regiments,  a 
healing  order  has  been  published  by  the  President  leaving 
the  enforcement  of  the  same  discretionary  with  corps  and 
department  commanders.  The  generals  have  declined  to 
permit  it  to  apply  to  me,  so  I  am  held.  My  services  will  not 
be  dispensed  with  till  my  body  becomes  useless.  I  have  no 
option  in  the  matter.  Therefore  you  perceive  I  am  unable 
to  follow  your  advice  if  I  would.  I  cannot  resign.  They 
will  not  muster  me  out.  They  will  not  grant  me  furlough. 

Don't  give  yourself  one  moment's  uneasiness  about  me. 
I  am  proud  as  the  black  knight  with  his  visor  down.  My 
honor,  thank  God,  is  bright ;  no  stain  on  my  flag,  though  it 
is  rent  and  torn  and  well-nigh  riddled  with  balls.  I  will 
send  on  a  copy  of  my  official  report  and  will  write  again  very 
shortly. 

The  land  has  been  devastated,  desolated  ;  the  sufferings 
of  the  people,  particularly  the  women,  are  terrible.  Ladies 
in  Vicksburg  are  now  living  in  caves  and  holes  in  the  ground 
to  protect  them  from  the  unceasing  fail  of  shot  and  shell  from 
our  guns.  They  disobeyed  Pemberton's  order  and  would 


Letters  299 

not  leave  the  doomed  city.  They  could  not  believe  we  were 
so  near  at  home.  Their  soldiers  are  reduced  to  one  fourth 
rations. 


WALNUT  Hm,s,  NEAR  VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  May  30,  1863. 

MY  DARUNG  : 

I  have  carried  your  last  letter,  26th  April,  in  my  breast 
pocket  close  to  my  heart  for  many  a  day  with  intent  to  an 
swer  ;  it  is  quite  yellow  with  the  damp  of  rain  and  night 
dews,  and  what  had  well-nigh  been  bloody  sweat,  for  it  has 
been  with  me  on  the  long  marches  and  on  the  hard-fought 
fields.  But  thanks  to  your  prayers,  I  am  spared  this  glori 
ous  moonlight  night  to  answer  it. 

I  do  not  think,  my  dear  daughter,  that  you  read  Schiller 
yet.  Do  you  know  you  quote  him  almost  verbatim  to  me  ? 
You  say  you  think  ' '  I  must  be  tired  of  war  and  drilling  sol 
diers."  You  might  have  gone  on  and  written  "  the  camp's 
stir  and  crowd  and  ceaseless  larum,  the  neighing  war-horse, 
the  air-shattering  trumpet,  the  unvaried,  still  returning, 
hour  of  duty,  word  of  command  and  exercise  of  arms, ' '  and 
then  a  little  further — 

"  O  !  day  thrice  lovely  !  when  he  becomes 
A  fellow  man  among  his  fellow  men, 
The  colors  are  unfurled,  the  cavalcade 
Marshals,  and  now  the  buzz  is  hushed,  and  hark  ! 
Now  the  soft  peace  march  beats,  home,  brothers,  home ; 
The  caps  and  helmets  are  all  garlanded 
With  green  boughs,  the  last  plundering  of  the  fields  ; 
The  City  gates  fly  open  of  themselves, 
They  need  no  longer  the  petard  to  tear  them  ; 
The  ramparts  are  all  filled  with  men  and  women  ; 
With  peaceful  men  and  women  that  send  onwards 
Kisses  and  welcornings  upon  the  air, 
Which  they  make  breezy  with  affectionate  gestures  ; 
From  all  the  towers  rings  out  the  merry  peal, 
The  joyous  vespers  of  a  bloody  day. 
O  !  happy  man,  O  !  fortunate  !  for  whom 
The  well-known  door,  the  faithful  arms  are  open, 
The  faithful,  tender  arms  with  mute  embracing." 


300  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Yes,  daughter,  most  gladly  would  I  give  the  "  blood-stained 
laurel  for  the  first  violet  of  the  leafless  spring,"  plucked  in 
those  quiet  fields  where  you  are  wandering.  You  give  a  beau 
tiful  description  of  your  new  home.  Well  you  may  say  ' '  Ala 
bama.  ' '  I  must  tell  you  the  circumstance  from  which  that 
State  derived  its  name.  According  to  tradition,  a  tribe  of 
Indians,  driven  southward  by  the  advance  of  civilization, 
after  many  weeks  of  toilsome  march,  one  day  at  sunset 
reached  a  lovely  country,  a  sanctuary,  unviolated  by  the 
remorseless  white  man,  on  the  banks  of  a  broad,  calmly 
flowing  river,  where  their  canoes  might  ply,  as  they  hoped, 
unmolested  for  ages,  in  the  skirts  of  a  forest  where  the  deer 
were  sporting  like  tame  kids.  The  chief  struck  the  pole  of 
his  tent  into  the  earth,  exclaiming,  "Alabama  !  Alabama  !  " 
(here  we  rest).  Maybe,  if  I  live,  I  shall  come  where  you 
are,  some  day,  to  rest  a  little  while,  to  lie  still  in  the  cool 
halls  and  have  you  read  to  me,  or  sing  to  me,  bathe  my  fur 
rowed  brow  or  smooth  away  my  sunburned  hair.  A  little 
while  to  rest  would  be  sweet  to  me,  for  I  'm  tired,  very, 
very  weary,  but  there  are  many  hundreds  of  long  miles  be 
tween  us  and  we  must  not  be  too  sanguine  in  our  hopes. 

Where  do  you  suppose  I  am  now  ?  Sitting  in  a  tent,  in 
the  woods,  among  the  tallest  trees  you  ever  saw,  not  very 
far  from  the  fortifications  of  Vicksburg.  All  the  time  by 
night  and  day  the  cannon  are  pouring  death  and  destruction 
upon  the  doomed  city,  yet  its  garrison  gallantly  holds  out. 
On  two  successive  days  we  tried  to  take  it  by  assault,  failing, 
because  from  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  the  skill  of  their 
engineers,  their  works  are  wellnigh  impregnable  ;  and  more 
than  two  thousand  brave  soldiers  have  paid  the  penalty  of 
the  attempt  with  their  lives.  Now  we  invest  the  city,  and 
if  reinforcements  do  not  come  to  them  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  overpower  us,  we  shall  starve  them  out.  Already  are 
they  reduced  to  one  fourth  rations  ;  their  soldiers  have  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  corn  meal  and  no  meat  for  a  day's 
allowance.  On  some  parts  of  the  fortifications  water  is 
scarce,  the  weather  is  warm,  and  the  sun  scorching.  They 
have  been  obliged  to  drive  cattle  and  horses  outside,  because 


Letters  301 

they  have  nothing  to  feed  them  on.  There  are  a  great  many 
women  and  children  in  the  city,  and  these  have  been  com 
pelled  to  retire  to  caves  and  holes  in  the  ground  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  ceaseless  falling  of  shot  and  shell.  As 
a  special  favor,  three  hundred  of  these  women  were  permit 
ted  to  cross  the  river  to  De  Soto,  a  little  way  from  where  my 
old  camp  at  Young's  Point  was,  and  there  they  remain 
under  guard  from  the  soldiers,  without  shelter  of  any  kind 
and  with  very  little,  if  any,  food.  Many  of  these  are  highly 
educated  and  refined  ladies  ;  others  of  like  character  who 
were  fortunate  enough  to  be  outside  the  city  walls  are  men 
dicants  to  the  government  they  affect  to  despise  so  much, 
and  now  pensioners  upon  its  bounty  for  food  for  themselves 
and  children.  But  this  is  only  part  of  the  horrors  of  war. 
God  grant,  that  you,  my  dear  daughter,  may  never  be  called 
upon  to  view  such  scenes  as  I  have  witnessed.  He  has 
cursed  the  land  and  let  loose  the  demon  who  demands  blood, 
tears,  and  death  as  his  sacrifice.  Dearest,  you  must  always 
thank  God  that  your  lines  are  cast  in  pleasant  places  ;  you 
must  remember  how  many  and  bountiful  are  the  blessings 
showered  upon  you. 

I  must  tell  you  a  little  anecdote  of  my  own  experience, 
and  in  order  to  appreciate  it,  you  must  know  that  the  route 
we  marched  over  to  reach  this  point  had  already  been 
traversed  by  three  armies,  that  everything  eatable,  and 
almost  all  to  wear,  had  been  pillaged  from  the  houses  that 
lined  the  road,  for  it  is  the  habit  of  the  soldier  to  take  what 
he  wants  wherever  he  finds  it  ;  and  in  hot  pursuit,  or  quick 
retreat,  or  on  the  eve  of  impending  battle,  there  is  no  one  to 
gainsay  him  in  his  desires.  Well,  so  it  happened  that  I 
halted  my  brigade  at  Willow  Springs  to  bivouac  for  the 
night,  and  at  the  earnest  request  of  a  lady,  the  wife  of  a 
physician,  made  their  house  my  headquarters,  for  the  pres 
ence  of  the  commanding  officer  is  guarantee  of  protection. 
I  had  been  seated  upon  the  porch  but  a  short  time,  when  a 
sweet  little  girl  of  perhaps  seven  summers  brought  me  a  rose, 
and  as  I  patted  her  head  and  fondled  her,  for  she  was  very 
pretty  and  interesting,  she  lisped  out,  ' '  If  I  had  only  a  cracker 


302  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  some  water  I  would  go  to  bed,  but  I  'm  very  hungry  and 
I  can't  sleep."  "  Why,  my  dear,  have  n't  you  had  your 
supper?  "  "  No,  sir.  I  have  n't  had  anything  to  eat  all 
day,  but  if  I  just  had  a  cracker  and  a  little  water,  I  could  lie 
down."  My  supply  wagon  had  n't  come  up,  but  there  was 
about  a  biscuit  of  hardtack  in  pieces  in  my  haversack,  and 
this  I  gave  the  little  child,  who  sat  at  my  feet  and  ate  it  all 
with  such  famishing  hunger.  Oh  !  it  would  have  made  your 
heart  bleed  to  see  these  lambs,  so  visited  for  the  sins  of  their 
fathers,  these  suffering,  innocent  little  ones,  no  food,  no 
shelter,  no  shoes,  scarce  raiment  enough  to  cover  their 
nakedness,  though  born  to  affluence.  How  long,  Oh,  Lord  1 
how  long  ? 

As  we  came  along  the  road,  particularly  after  leaving 
Judge  Perkins's,  and  skirted  along  Lake  St.  Joseph,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  sheets  of  water  in  the  world,  we  passed 
magnificent  plantations,  principalities;  and  upon  each  of 
them  a  palace,  gorgeously  furnished  with  mirrors  and  velvet 
carpets,  sumptuous  furniture  and  upholstery  of  Eastern 
magnificence,  with  all  the  adjuncts  of  garden  and  green 
house,  dovecote,  statuary,  mausoleum,  and  Italian  marbles 
in  richest  sculpture,  marking  the  burial  place  of  their  dead. 
The  roadside  for  miles  and  miles  was  strewn  with  all  this  in 
mutilation,  carpets  and  curtains,  grand  pianos  broken  in 
pieces,  pearl  and  ivory  keys  and  strings  all  scattered,  choice 
paintings  cut  from  the  frames,  carried  a  little  way,  then 
torn  and  scattered  to  the  winds,  fences  down,  gardens 
trampled,  the  year's  harvest  gone  utterly,  frightened  negroes 
peering  from  behind  their  quarters,  far  down  the  woodland 
glen,  the  relics  of  the  flock,  bleating  piteously,  soon  the  prey 
of  the  straggling  soldier,  the  palaces  burned  or  reft  of  all  the 
beautiful  that  wealth  and  art  and  science  could  produce,  the 
tomb  desecrated  and  put  to  vile  uses,  and  exquisite  gardens 
the  purlieus  of  the  camp.  Yet  while  we  sigh  for  and  repine 
at  all  this  desolation  and  ruin,  we  can  but  reflect  that  he,  for 
whose  grandeur  and  magnificence  all  this  wealth  has  been 
lavished,  who  has  subsidized  the  world  to  minister  to  his 
taste  and  convenience,  is  a  fugitive,  perhaps  in  a  foreign 
land,  certainly  with  a  paid  substitute,  who  for  gold  is  willing 


Letters  303 

to  raise  his  unholy  hand  to  tear  asunder  the  fair  fabric  that 
guaranteed  him  all  this  opulence  and  luxury ;  and  the  lesson, 
so  severe,  perhaps,  is  needed.  Yet  we  cannot  forget  it  is 
written  that  offences  must  come,  but  woe  be  to  them  by 
whom  they  come. 


ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "AMERICA," 

MIUJKEN'S  BEND,  June  3,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

' c  Once  more  upon  the  waters. ' '  Yesterday,  by  order  of 
General  Grant,  through  General  Sherman,  I  left  the  front 
and,  as  president  of  a  court,  reported  at  this  point.  Yester 
day  and  to-day  I  have  been  in  command  of  a  very  fine  steam 
boat,  only  occupied  by  myself  and  suite,  and  shall  retain 
command  as  long  as  I  please,  going  and  coming  as  I  list.  I 
hardly  think  an  attack  will  soon  be  made  by  our  forces,  and 
the  relief  from  the  terrible  suffering  of  the  camp  in  the 
present  season  with  scarcity  of  water  can  hardly  be  over 
estimated. 

I  to-day  received  your  letter  of  2yth  ult.,  with  slips  en 
closed,  and  will  endeavor  to  answer  it  and  the  others  in 
inverse  order.  You  have  before  this  received  news  of  my 
safe  passage  through  the  fiery  furnace.  My  report  accom 
panying  will  be  about  the  best  version  I  can  give  of  my 
part  of  the  affair,  and  then  we  will  dismiss  the  subject  with 
the  sole  remark  that  I  wrote  my  report  in  the  hot  sun  and 
under  fire,  seated  upon  a  stump,  in  about  two  hours,  and  the 
draft  I  send  you  is  not  to  say  improved  by  the  blundering 
stupidity  of  my  clerk.  Therefore,  if  it  is  not  as  artistic  a 
production  as  you  would  like,  you  must  blame  the  enemy, 
not  me.  I  had  as  lieve  write  in  a  hornet's  nest  as  anywhere 
within  range  of  their  sharpshooters,  for  they  give  an  officer 
no  peace,  and  don't  have  much  regard  for  a  private  soldier. 

I  don't  think  Rosecrans  will  go  to  the  Potomac.  I  am 
very  sure  neither  Grant  nor  Sherman  will  give  the  world 
any  such  evidence  of  insanity  ;  neither  of  the  latter  care 
much  about  being  heroes — certainly  not  of  the  sort  that  army 
makes.  General  Grant  told  me  he  received  your  letter, 
which  he  complimented  as  being  very  patriotic,  and  was 


304  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

surprised  to  learn  I  had  a  mother,  having  always  classed 
me,  I  suppose,  in  the  same  category  with  ' '  Topsy . ' '  Gen 
eral  Sherman  might  have  received,  read,  and  carried  one 
from  you  in  his  pocket  for  six  months,  seeing  me  every  day 
meanwhile,  and  yet  not  say  a  word  about  it,  and  then,  at  the 
end  of  six  months  recite  the  contents  from  memory — that  's 
his  way.  No  doubt  he  received  it.  Both  those  gentlemen 
are  always  polite  to  me,  both  are  doubtless  my  friends,  as 
friendships  go  in  the  army ;  but  unless  you  see  them  as  I  do, 
you  could  form  no  conception  of  the  magnitude  of  the  enter 
prise,  the  herculean  labor  they  are  forced  to  perform,  the 
immense  interests  they  have  at  their  control,  or  the  numbers 
who  claim  friendship  with  and  acts  of  friendship  from  them. 
I  have  little  right  to  claim  more  than  my  share  and  am 
abundantly  satisfied  if  I  receive  even  justice.  They  have 
both  behaved  very  handsomely  to  me,  and  I  think  General 
Grant,  in  assigning  me  to  my  present  very  honorable  and 
most  responsible  position,  has  been  actuated  by  a  desire  to 
give  me  some  relief  even  if  only  for  a  brief  season  ;  that  both 
he  and  Sherman  feel  keenly  a  regret  that  the  Administration 
has  overlooked  me.  I  certainly  have  nothing  to  complain 
of,  nobody  to  find  fault  with,  unless  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  doubtless  there  are  many  far  more  worthy 
than  I  am  who  suffer  in  silence. 


ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "ARMENIA," 
YAZOO  RIVER,  NEAR  HAINES'S  BI,UFF,  June  15,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  WiFK  : 

I  have  just  returned  from  the  completion  of  my  labors 
upon  a  Court  of  Inquiry  at  Milliken's  Bend.  While  there  I 
witnessed  and  had  to  take  some  part  in  a  very  bloody  fight, 
in  which  three  negro  regiments  repulsed  a  largely  superior 
force  of  the  enemy.  The  conflict  was  desperate,  hand  to 
hand,  the  blacks  proving  incontestably  that  they  are  brave. 
I  suppose  some  account  of  the  affair  will  get  into  the  news 
papers. 

The  siege  of  Vicksburg  progresses  without  material  change 


Letters  305 

within  the  past  few  days.  The  bombardment  is  incessant  ; 
always  we  hear  the  booming  of  heavy  guns,  not  seldom  the 
sharp  rattle  of  musketry ;  our  approaches  are  constant  ;  she 
must  fall,  perhaps  in  a  week,  perhaps  not  for  months. 
Heavy  reinforcements  from  above  have  reached  us  ;  more 
are  coming. 

HEADQUARTERS  FIFTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

WALNUT  HiijvS,  XEAR  VICKSBURG,  June  17,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

You  must  not  doubt  General  Sherman's  friendship  for  me  ; 
he  is  the  soul  of  honor,  the  bravest,  truest,  loyal  heart  that 
ever  beat.  Not  his  to  betray.  I  am  sure  he  means  just 
what  he  writes  to  you.  I  know,  had  it  been  in  his  power, 
my  promotion  would  long  since  have  been  made.  It  would 
be  long  for  me  to  explain  to  you  the  intricate  machinery  of 
an  army,  or  the  peculiar  and  despotic  laws  by  which  it  is 
governed;  friendship,  even  from  those  high  in  rank,  avails 
but  little.  What  I  say  of  General  Sherman  equally  applies 
to  General  Grant  ;  the  latter  has  not  been  profuse  in  his  ex 
pressions  of  friendship,  but  has  given  me  the  most  convincing 
proof  that  he  admires,  esteems,  and  respects  me  ;  his  verbal 
and  written  endorsement  is  all  I  could  ask.  You  request  me 
to  have  a  personal  interview  with  him.  I  smile.  For  there 
is  hardly  a  day  when  I  am  near  his  headquarters  that  I  do 
not  see  him.  He  never  goes  to  the  table  at  meal  time,  when 
I  am  about,  that  the  invitation  is  not  extended  to  me  ;  he 
and  his  staff,  with  all  of  whom  I  am  on  the  most  intimate 
terms,  are  always  polite.  General  Grant  has  frequently 
done  me  the  honor  to  ask  me  my  advice.  My  opinion  upon 
grave  matters  has  been  taken  as  law  by  him.  He  knows  me 
very  well,  and  exactly  my  position.  He  would  be  rejoiced 
to  greet  me  as  Major-General,  but  he,  like  Sherman,  has  no 
power  to  confer  rank.  No  colonel  in  the  corps,  I  am  quite 
sure,  has  had  the  courtesy,  kindness,  consideration  and  in 
dulgence  that  has  been  granted  by  both  these  generals  to 
me.  I  am  very  grateful  to  them  for  that  which  I  have  no 
right  to  demand.  Remember,  I  am  serving  my  country,  not 


306  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

either  of  them  ;  that  the  privileges  of  rank  give  wide  dis 
parity,  that  aside  from  myself  and  my  own  claims,  which, 
after  all,  are  meagre,  for  kind  fortune  has  not  yet  given  me 
opportunity  for  brilliant  achievements  ;  there  are  hundreds, 
thousands,  who  have  claims  for  faithful  service,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  those  who  lie  under  the  sod,  or  those  other  dear 
martyrs,  who,  maimed  and  crippled,  offer  their  bleeding 
bodies  in  testimony. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

NEAR  VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  June  22,  1863. 

I  am  ordered  upon  special  and  delicate  business  which  may 
cause  me  absence  from  headquarters  and  mail  facilities  for 
some  days  and  perhaps  some  weeks,  and  write  now  that  you 
may  not  be  worried,  if  you  do  not  hear  from  me  with  the 
usual  regularity,  and  in  any  event  to  reassure  you  from  any 
fears  for  my  personal  safety. 

I  have  been  for  a  week  or  more  past  in  close  and  intimate, 
I  may  say  almost  confidential  communication  with  General 
Grant ;  not  detached  by  formal  order  from  my  regimental 
command,  but  virtually  for  temporary  purposes.  I  don't 
know  what  my  future  status  in  the  army  may  be.  You 
must  not  expect  me  home  soon  ;  perhaps  not  till  the  political 
aspect  in  Ohio  demands  the  presence  of  troops  there,  which 
from  recent  events,  I  conjecture  is  a  time  not  far  distant. 

In  my  letter  covering  the  copy  of  my  official  report  of  the 
recent  engagement  I  forwarded  you  some  time  since,  I  forgot 
to  give  you  special  caution  not  to  publish  the  same  ;  never 
show  or  publish,  except  to  confidential  friends,  anything  of 
an  official  character  I  may  send  for  your  edification.  The 
rule  upon  this  matter  is  peremptory  with  the  War  Depart 
ment,  and  must  be  respected. 

Vicksburg  is  sure  to  be  ours  I  think  not  very  many  days 
hence  ;  how  long,  no  one  can  tell,  but  it  is  most  surely  in 
vested.  Its  garrison  is  slowly  but  surely  wearing  out.  John 
ston's  movements  are  mysterious  ;  we  are  always  prepared 
for  him. 


Letters  307 

McClernand  .  .  .  is  at  last  superseded.  We  are  most 
thankful  ;  it  will  doubtless  raise  a  good  deal  of  a  breeze. 

P.  S. — I  enclose  a  slip  ;  in  many  respects  the  account  is 
defective,  in  all  partial  ;  take  it  as  a  whole,  it  gives  a  more 
fair  account  than  any  I  have  seen  in  the  papers  of  the  affair. 
My  report  is  in  all  respects  strictly  true.  I  fought  under 
General  Grant's  own  eye  ;  his  report  was  submitted  to,  and 
pronounced  upon  by  General  Sherman  before  I  forwarded  it. 
The  great  attack  was  made  on  the  29th  ;  that  is  the  first 
attack.  You  will  hardly  credit  what  I  am  about  to  write, 
but  it  is  also  strictly  true,  that  the  attack  of  that  day  was 
made  by  two  thirds  of  one  tenth  of  the  whole  force  of  Grant. 
That  is,  the  Second  Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 
General  Sherman,  was  the  only  one  who  obeyed  the  order  ; 
and  what  I  am  about  to  write  will  be  testified  to  by  General 
Kwing  of  the  Third  Brigade,  only  that  the  Second  Brigade, 
the  1 3th  Regulars  of  the  First  Brigade,  and  two  regiments  of 
the  Third  Brigade  were  all  that  went  in.  In  point  of  fact, 
save  by  the  i3th  Regulars,  I  was  alone  and  unsupported. 
The  history  of  these  matters  will  some  day  be  given  to  the 
world,  truthful,  unvarnished. 

Well,  as  a  whole,  this  account  is  fair  enough  and  worth 
reading.  But  no  account,  written  or  verbal,  can  give  any 
body  the  slightest  conception  of  the  affair;  you  might  as  well 
try  to  describe  the  falls  of  Niagara. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

NEAR  VICKSBURG,  June  27,  1863. 

I  mentioned  in  a  former  letter  having  received  General 
Sherman's  to  you.  I  cannot  see  how  he  could,  in  language 
that  would  not  have  been  fulsome,  have  given  more  expres 
sion  of  feelings  of  friendship  toward  me  ;  other  than  those 
feelings  I  have  no  right  or  reason  to  demand.  He  is  per 
fectly  sincere,  and  I  believe  would  rejoice  at  my  success. 
He  cannot  make  it  for  me,  I  must  do  that  for  myself,  through 


308  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  aid  of  God  by  my  own  merit,  if  I  possess.  These  things 
are  all  hard  for  you  to  understand.  The  science  of  the  sol 
dier  and  the  art  of  war,  obtaining  in  this  fearful  strife,  differ 
from  all  that  experience  or  reading  have  given  you  knowledge 
of.  The  ordinary  springs  to  human  action  in  a  measure  fail. 
We  are  brought  to  greater  exactness  of  action.  An  army 
is  a  vast  machine  of  which  each  individual  is  an  integral 
part.  Shiftings  and  change  cannot  easily  be  made  without 
disarrangement  of  the  whole,  never  after  a  certain  point, 
save  by  direction  of  the  chief  of  all.  Thus  I  report  to  Gen 
eral  Lightburn,  he  to  General  Blair,  he  to  General  Sherman, 
he  to  General  Grant,  he  to  General  Halleck,  he  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  who  in  his  turn  goes  to  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  the  President.  But  till  you  get  to  General  Halleck, 
that  I  have  given  illustration  of,  is  only  one  of  a  series  of 
systems  aggregating  a  vast  whole.  Now7,  General  Sher 
man's  power  is  really  very  limited  ;  he  has  no  appointing 
power  ;  he  can  only  recommend  to  his  superior  officers,  and 
how  often  has  he  done  this  for  me  !  He  is  no  more  responsi 
ble  for  my  misfortune  than  he  would  have  been  for  wounds 
and  death  in  battle.  Some  favors  may  always  be  granted 
by  superior  officers  ;  these  favors  have  been  lavishly  ex 
tended  to  me  by  all  of  mine  who  are  in  the  field,  by  none 
more  liberally  than  by  General  Sherman.  His  bed,  his 
table,  his  wines,  cigars,  everything  has  been  placed  at  my 
disposal.  He  has  shared  my  blanket  and  laid  him  down 
by  my  side  in  the  bivouac  before  the  dread  day  of  battle. 
He  did  this  on  the  night  of  the  i8th,  before  the  first  bloody 
assault.  We  have  been  baptized  in  blood  together.  He 
is  not  an  affectionate  man,  but  on  the  contrary,  austere 
and  forbidding.  He  never  meets  me  without  a  glad  smile 
and  a  warm  pressure  of  the  hand.  You  must  not  doubt 
him.  It  was  not  by  General  Grant's  order  that  I  was  as 
signed  as  president  of  the  court  that  sat  at  Milliken's  Bend  ; 
but  because  I  had  intimated  to  Colonel  Rawlins,  A.  A.  Gen., 
that  I  had  not  reported  back  to  my  regiment  and  wanted 
something  to  do.  The  service  was  temporary  and  has  long 
since  been  performed  and  reported  upon.  While  presiding 
at  the  court,  I  became  an  actor  to  some  extent  in  the  affair 


Letters  309 

at  the  Bend  when  the  negro  regiments  were  attacked,  and 
officially  made  some  report  of  the  matter  to  General  Grant. 
Out  of  that  matter  grew  a  necessity  for  other  and  important 
service  which  I  was  assigned  to,  and  thus  I  have  gone  along 
from  day  to  day,  hardly  anticipating  a  permanent  charge  till 
after  the  reduction  of  Vicksburg.  I  cannot  tell  what  they 
are  doing  at  Washington.  Mr.  Chase  has  small  power  in  the 
War  Department.  I  have  reason  to  believe  I  was  nominated 
before  my  papers  arrived,  and  before  active  influence  was 
made  for  me,  and  that  I  lapsed  with  several  score  of  others, 
from  excess  of  numbers  and  the  insignificance  of  my  name  ; 
so  common  a  name  is  a  greater  barrier  to  success  than  can 
be  imagined  by  those  who  are  not  fellow  sufferers.  If  Grant 
is  successful,  I  still  hope  there  is  something  bright  for  me, 
if  not,  I  must  do  my  duty,  unmurmuring,  if  hopeless.  If  I 
perish  without  the  glittering  surrounding  of  rank,  I  trust  I 
shall  be  able  to  die  like  a  soldier. 

You  speak  of  the  little  diary  I  sent  you  as  if  it  was  im 
portant.  I  thought  it  might  be  of  some  interest  to  the  chil 
dren  as  showing  something  of  life  on  the  march,  and  the 
effects  of  war,  but  considered  it  hardly  worthy  of  second 
perusal.  I  am  surprised  you  should  have  thought  it  worth 
while  to  send  East  what  was  only  meant  for  the  home  circle. 
You  need  give  yourself  no  uneasiness  about  my  deprivation 
from  exercise  and  my  removal  from  the  saddle.  I  was  but  a 
brief  time  on  the  steamboat,  and  my  feet  are  oftener  in  the 
stirrup  than  on  the  ground. 

You  will  still  compliment  my  letters.  You  read  them  with 
a  loving  mother's  eyes,  too  partial  a  judge.  I  see  so  much 
I  cannot  write.  If  I  could  seize  opportunity,  and  describe 
what  I  should  so  much  like  to  describe  as  it  passes  before  me 
and  when  the  fit  is  on,  I  might  write  something  worthy. 
But  as  time  passes,  new  events  obliterate  the  recollection 
even  of  old  excitement,  and  the  excitement  of  yesterday  is 
old  with  us  to-day.  I  wrote  you  in  my  last  letter  that  I  had 
been  detailed  on  delicate  service,  and  prepared  you  for  what 
I  thought  might  be  a  prolonged  absence.  The  occasion  was 
my  going  with  a  small  escort  under  a  flag  of  truce  which  was 
a  feint  to  meet  or  endeavor  to  meet  General  Taylor,  one  of 


3 1  o  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  commanders  of  the  rebel  forces.  With  this  object  I  took 
a  steamboat  at  Milliken's  Bend  on  the  226..  Debarking 
there  at  daybreak,  rode  to  Richmond,  or  what  was  once 
Richmond,  twelve  miles  distant,  and  there  found  the  bridge 
burned.  I  ought  to  say  that  after  the  fight  at  Milliken's 
Bend,  the  enemy  fell  back  to  Richmond,  and  there  en 
trenched  themselves.  That  we  sent  out  forces  to  dislodge 
them,  that  they  were  defeated,  driven  out,  and  the  town,  a 
very  pretty  place  containing  some  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
court  house,  jail,  large  hotel,  etc.,  was  burned  ;  nothing  that 
was  inflammable  was  left  ;  everything  but  the  bricks  and 
mortar  was  consumed.  The  enemy  before  retreating  had 
burned  the  bridge  themselves,  and  so,  from  its  charred  re 
mains,  I  was  compelled  to  construct  another,  to  cover  the 
deep  bayou.  Some  two  hours'  labor  effected  this  object,  and 
with  a  bit  of  cracker  and  coffee,  made  in  a  tin  cup,  for  break 
fast,  forward  we  went,  and  oh !  how  desolate  was  the  country 
we  crossed,  and  how  dreary  the  ride  !  The  fleeing  enemy 
had  been  panic-stricken,  and  all  along  the  road  for  miles  had 
thrown  the  loads  from  the  wagons  and  sometimes  abandoned 
the  wagons  themselves.  Bedsteads  and  mirrors,  glass, 
crockery,  bags  of  meal,  clothing,  sewing  machines,  baskets, 
boxes,  and  trunks,  with  pots,  pans,  and  camp  equipage,  lay 
promiscuously  scattered.  But  the  most  noticeable  objects 
were  the  corpses  of  the  unburied  dead,  smoked  and  black 
ened  in  the  sun,  too  carrion  even  for  the  vultures  and 
buzzards.  At  every  bayou  crossing,  bridges  torn  up  and 
fresh  delays.  Finally  I  reached  the  Tensas,  twenty  miles. 
Here,  too,  the  bridge  was  burned,  but  on  the  other  side  was 
a  house  giving  promise  of  water.  The  bayou  water  is  not 
drinkable,  and  we  were  parched  with  thirst.  A  woman  ap 
peared  on  the  opposite  bank  to  show  us  the  ford,  and  this 
was  strange,  for  we  were  far  inside  the  enemy's  lines.  A 
struggle  through  the  mud,  a  ford  almost  a  swim,  and  we 
were  over.  The  woman  fairly  cried  with  joy  to  see  us — the 
first  real,  genuine  Union  woman  I  have  met  in  the  South. 
Her  husband  was  under  the  ban  and  on  our  side  ;  he  was 
poor  and  had  been  hauling  cotton  for  transportation  North 
— an  unpardonable  sin,  and  she  had  been  made  to  suffer. 


Letters  3 1 1 

Along  with  four  young  children,  she  had  been  persecuted  by 
the  retreating  army,  and  no  wonder  she  over  flowed  with  joy 
when  her  friends  came  in  sight.  She  gave  me  some  butter 
milk  and  some  eggs,  and  after  resting  an  hour,  on  we  went. 
Soon  the  enemy's  pickets  were  in  sight,  but  instead  of  ap 
proaching,  seemed  to  be  fleeing.  In  vain  the  sergeant  waved 
his  flag,  conspicuous  enough,  for  it  was  a  sheet  borrowed 
from  the  steamboat  berth  and  tied  to  a  pole.  As  we  marched 
forward  they  marched  back,  until  at  last  they  fairly  made  a 
run  for  it ;  thereupon  we  halted  and  tried  another  coaxing 
process,  and  at  last,  after  making  various  signs,  they  ap 
proached  or  rather  waited  our  coming  with  the  timidity  of 
young  fawns.  We  explained  the  nature  of  our  flag  ;  they  were 
very  glad  to  know  we  were  not  going  to  fight  them,  and  said 
they  had  watched  us  from  Richmond  and  hovered  in  our  front 
all  the  way  those  ten  long  miles  and  had  sent  back  for  rein 
forcements,  and  had  come  near  shooting  one  of  our  men  who 
had  stopped  to  take  the  water  out  of  his  boot  at  the  ford.  We 
reassured  them  and  rode  forward  for  about  the  space  of  a 
mile,  when  we  were  encountered  by  the  reinforcements,  dis 
mounted,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  Their  captain  was 
stupid,  and  after  the  pickets  had  informed  him  we  were  a 
flag  of  truce,  he  insisted  upon  mistaking  us  for  rebels,  and 
boring  us  with  the  most  absurd  questions  about  the  strength 
of  Grant's  army,  the  condition  of  affairs  at  Vicksburg,  etc. 
At  last  we  drove  it  through  his  head  that  we  were  Yankees, 
as  they  call  us,  and  as  soon  as  light  broke  through  upon  him, 
he  became  dumb  with  astonishment  ;  nevertheless  we 
marched  forward  well  enough  for  four  miles  and  then 
stopped  to  camp.  We  continued  winding  through  the  dense 
woods  by  the  side  of  bayous  or  the  shores  of  little  lakes 
until  at  last,  crossing  another  bridge,  we  encountered  another 
picket.  It  was  interesting  to  us  to  pass  this  picket,  for  it 
was  near  nightfall,  the  rain  began  to  come  down  heavily  ; 
we  had  ridden  some  thirty-two  or  three  miles  and  were  near 
Delhi,  where  we  expected  to  find  General  Taylor  and  a 
pretty  large  force  of  the  enemy.  But  they  halted  us  and  I 
came  to  a  parley.  The  officer  was  peremptory.  I  brought 
a  stunning  argument  to  bear— that  I  had  been  permitted  by 


3 1 2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

all  the  other  picket  guards  to  pass,  why  should  he  refuse, 
and  by  what  authority — at  last  prevailed,  and  on  to  Delhi. 
Three  or  four  miles  brought  us  to  the  camp  guard  of  the  out 
side  regiment.  We  had  penetrated  thirty-six  miles  inside  of 
the  enemy's  lines  since  morning.  They  looked  on  us  with 
wonder  and  astonishment,  called  no  halt,  and  on  we  went 
right  through  their  camps.  The  soldiers  gathered  in  groups 
by  the  wayside  to  gape  at  us  ;  the  officers  ran  out  of  their 
tents  ;  my  escort  was  only  ten  men  and  a  sergeant.  We 
enquired  the  way  to  headquarters  and  reported  to  the  com 
mandant,  and  demanded  to  see  General  Taylor.  General 
Taylor  was  not  there.  This  was  what  I  wanted  and  hoped 
for,  for  I  knew  if  he  was  not  at  Delhi  he  must  be  at  Monroe, 
sixty- five  miles  further  up,  and  I  wanted  to  penetrate  the 
country  as  far  as  possible.  Meanwhile  it  had  rained  very 
hard,  and  was  still  raining.  We  were  wet  through.  The 
question  of  quarters  was  interesting,  for  it  was  almost  dark. 
The  commandant  evidently  did  not  know  what  to  do.  I 
suggested  the  hotel.  He  brightened,  and  we  were  permitted 
to  go  there  and  seek  quarters.  They  did  not  know  how  to 
receive  a  flag.  Their  pickets  ought  not  to  have  let  us  pass 
without  first  reporting  and  disarming  us  ;  but  there  we  were 
and  there  was  no  help  for  it.  Now  imagine  a  small  town 
with  a  railway  passing  through,  scattered  houses  and  a  large 
square  frame  hotel,  your  son  followed  by  his  troops  and  a 
crowd  of  soldiers,  officers,  citizens,  old  and  young,  all  agape 
with  astonishment  ;  evening,  and  muddy.  Landlord  conies 
out  uncertain  whether  to  receive  us  or  not  ;  anxious  for  his 
pocket,  more  anxious  for  his  house.  At  last  the  pecuniary 
prevails,  and  he  thinks  he  can  make  provision  for  us,  but 
can't  for  the  horses.  Under  shelter,  and  immediately  after 
wards  under  strict  guard  and  surveillance  ;  got  some  sup 
per,  corn  bread,  fresh  pork,  and  something  they  call  coffee, 
made  of  parched  wheat.  After  supper  the  commandant 
called  and  demanded  the  despatches  ;  refused  to  deliver 
them,  on  the  ground  that  my  orders  were  peremptory  to  de 
liver  them  to  General  Taylor  in  person.  The  commandant, 
a  Major  Beattie  from  Texas,  was  green  and  nonplussed  ; 
he  did  n't  know  what  to  do,  finally  concluded  to  put  us 


Letters  3 1 3 

under  guard  and  himself  in  telegraphic  communication 
with  General  Taylor.  At  last  I  got  rid  of  him  and  went 
to  bed,  wet  through  to  my  buff,  and  got  a  sound  sleep, 
to  wake  and  find  myself  close  prisoner  in  the  camp  of 
the  enemy  ;  breakfast,  the  duplicate  of  the  supper,  and 
after  the  breakfast  the  show  began.  I  seated  myself  on  the 
upper  porch  and  the  ' '  butternuts  ' '  passed  in  review.  Some 
citizens  came  to  talk  to  me,  some  officers.  The  same  old 
story  of  what  you  read  in  the  newspapers — ' '  they  are  united, 
intend  to  fight  till  the  last  man  is  dead, ' '  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing.  Finally,  Brigadier- General  I^egee,  Aide-de-Camp  of 
General  Taylor,  made  his  appearance,  and  now  I  found  I 
had  to  deal  with  a  soldier  and  a  man  of  sense.  Of  course  I 
was  baffled,  as  I  expected  to  be.  He  insisted  upon  my  de 
spatches  and  my  return  ;  no  further  penetration  to  their 
stronghold  except  at  the  head  of  an  army.  I  was  satisfied, 
however,  for  I  had  informed  myself  upon  the  principal  point 
I  was  after.  So  I  delivered  my  despatches  with  as  good 
grace  as  possible,  and  received  the  necessary  returns.  I 
found  General  Legee,  aside  from  his  politics,  to  be  a  fine 
soldier  and  a  most  admirable  gentleman.  He  had  graduated 
at  Cambridge,  and  afterwards  read  law  there  ;  had  spent 
some  time  in  Cincinnati,  and  knew  a  good  many  of  my 
friends  .  .  .  and  in  short,  we  soon  found  we  were  old 
acquaintances  almost,  and  sat  down  to  have  a  good  time  ; 
that  is,  as  good  a  time  as  gentlemen  can  expect  to  have 
without  wine  or  anything  else  but  water  to  drink  and  no 
cigars  to  smoke  ;  nevertheless,  we  had  a  comfortable  chat. 
He  made  my  imprisonment  as  light  as  possible;  and  next 
morning  with  an  escort  from  the  enemy  we  retraced  our  steps 
without  adventure,  stopped  at  Richmond,  or  the  cisterns  of 
Richmond  rather,  for  water  and  a  bite.  While  the  men  were 
resting,  I  wandered  through  the  gardens  ;  they  could  not 
burn  them,  but  what  a  picture  of  desolation  they  presented. 
For  the  first  time  flowers  seemed  out  of  place,  the  fruit,  apri 
cots,  peaches,  and  grapes,  was  j  ust  ripening.  Some  frightened, 
superannuated  negroes  came  up  to  gape,  and  I  hurried  away 
from  the  smouldering  ruins  after  extorting  from  them  a 
promise  to  go  out  and  bury  the  dead  upon  consideration  that 


3 1 4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

they  should  possess  themselves  of  all  the  property  abandoned 
on  the  road.  Back  to  the  Bend,  and  rapidly  put  the  same  in 
a  state  of  defence,  for  unless  I  had  checkmated  them,  they  had 
calculated  to  come  in.  When  I  say  they  or  them  I  always 
mean  the  enemy,  the  only  terms  almost  by  which  we  know 
them.  On  board  a  boat  at  7  P.M.  ;  found  a  sick  lady  who  had 
taken  refuge  with  her  servants,  reassured  and  encouraged 
her  ;  down  to  General  Dennis  to  report.  Sat  with  him  till 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  then  up  the  Yazoo  ;  out  at  day 
break,  and  reported  to  General  Grant  at  breakfast  time. 
Yesterday  I  rested,  for  I  was  a  little  tired,  and  to-day  am 
anticipating  an  order  to  go  to  Grand  Gulf  to  report  to  Gen 
eral  Banks  with  despatches,  and  while  I  rest  I  write  you  this 
tedious  letter.  You  may  see  by  it  at  least  that  the  grass 
does  not  grow  under  my  feet. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

CAMP  OPPOSITE  VICKSBURG,  June  30,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

You  are  mistaken  in  supposing  I  had  a  new  command 
given  me.  I  explained  the  matter  to  mother  in  a  former 
letter — a  temporary  detail  as  president  of  a  court  which 
ceased  when  the  court  adjourned.  I  have  since,  however, 
been  employed  upon  most  important  business  which  has  kept 
me  from  my  regiment.  This  morning  I  shall  go  down  to 
Port  Hudson  in  a  steamboat  to  confer  with  General  Banks 
upon  official  business.  I  am  glad  you  liked  my  report.  I 
wrote  it  very  hurriedly  on  the  battlefield,  in  pencil,  and  in 
something  over  two  hours,  and  have  not  seen  it  since,  so  I 
can  hardly  judge  how  it  read.  The  country  will  hardly  ever 
get  the  true  history  of  the  assault  of  the  iQth,  because  it  is 
the  interest  of  the  whole  army,  except  the  small  portion, 
two  thirds  of  one  tenth,  to  suppress  it.  Thus  there  are  ten 
divisions  of  infantry  ;  but  one  of  these  divisions  obeyed  the 
order  to  charge,  and  of  that  division  but  one  whole  brigade, 
my  own,  went  in,  with  two  regiments  from  Bwing,  and  one 
from  Giles  Smith.  I  enclose  a  slip  which  is  partly  truthful 


Letters  3 1 5 

in  other  matters  and  worth  reading,  and  in  which  an  allusion 
is  made  to  what  the  opinion  of  the  rebel  officers  was  of  that 
charge.  They  have  spoken  of  it  very  often,  and  I  assure 
you  it  was  a  most  gallant,  daring  action.  The  conflict  is 
raging  here  all  the  time,  we  think  it  hardly  possible  Vicks- 
burg  can  hold  out  much  longer,  though  they  fight  with  per 
fect  desperation  and  probably  will  fight  to  the  last.  Still 
there  is  an  end  to  all  things  and  there  must  some  time  be  an 
end  to  this  siege — only  patience  is  left  to  us.  You  must  not 
be  alarmed  for  me.  I  have  been  in  many  dangers  and 
always  preserved.  My  life  may  yet  be  of  some  service  to 
my  country  or  my  family. 

I  made  General  Grant  a  present  of  one  of  my  saddle  horses 
the  other  day,  a  splendid  piebald  gelding,  that  I  think  is 
worth  a  thousand  dollars.  He  was  a  horse  that  I  captured 
at  Arkansas  Post  with  his  rider,  a  Texan  officer,  and  since 
that  time  I  have  been  carefully  training  him.  He  is  very 
large  and  spotted  white  and  black  with  a  noble  carriage  and 
easy  gait.  Grant  fell  in  love  with  him  a  long  time  ago,  and 
talked  so  much  about  him  that  I  gave  him.  He  always 
rides  him,  although  he  has  other  fine  horses. 

I  shall  hope  in  my  next  letter  to  be  able  to  give  you 
something  of  interest  connected  with  General  Banks' s  army 
and  its  operations. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

VlCKSBURG,  July  II,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  have  just  debarked  on  my  return  from  Port  Hudson 
and  finished  my  report  to  General  Grant.  I  am  ordered 
back  to  Natchez,  for  which  point  I  shall  start  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  so  have  brief  time  for  communica 
tion  with  you.  On  the  ist  inst.,  by  order  of  General  Grant, 
I  reported  to  Admiral  Porter  for  transportation  to  Port 
Hudson,  whither  I  was  going  as  bearer  of  despatches  and 


3 1 6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

oral  communication  from  General  Grant  to  General  Banks. 
You  are  probably  not  aware  of  what  a  flagship  is  or  the  sort 
of  style  they  preserve  on  board  of  one.  The  Black  Hawk, 
Admiral  Porter's,  is  probably  behind  none  of  them  in  point 
of  elegance,  and  the  Admiral,  who  is  a  special  friend  of 
mine,  always  receives  me  with  all  the  honors. 

From  the  flagship  I  reported  to  General  Dennis  at  Young's 
Point,  and  then  procured  an  ambulance  to  take  us  around 
by  land  to  where  the  gunboat  Arizona  was  lying,  the  vessel 
that  had  been  assigned  to  me.  I  have  had  command  before 
of  a  good  many  steamboats,  but  never  of  a  vessel  of  war. 
The  Arizona  is  a  beautiful  little  craft,  a  yacht,  elegantly 
fitted  up,  trim  built,  with  everything  ship-shape  in  real  man- 
of-war  style.  She  was  formerly  of  the  Southern  Steamship 
Line  between  New  Orleans  and  Galveston,  seized  by  the 
rebels  in  1861,  ran  the  blockade  to  Havana  with  a  cargo  of 
cotton,  recaptured  by  Admiral  Farragut's  squadron  in  1862 
off  Mobile — at  this  time  running  under  Confederate  colors 
and  called  the  Carolina,  and  commanded  by  Captain  Forbes. 
On  seeing  the  Admiral,  Captain  Forbes  claimed  to  be  bound 
to  Matarnoras,  but  the  Admiral  remarked  to  him,  "  I  do  not 
take  you  for  running  the  blockade,  but  for  your  damned 
poor  navigation.  Any  man  bound  to  Matamoras  from 
Havana  and  coming  within  twelve  miles  of  Mobile  light  has 
no  business  to  have  a  steamer."  Accordingly,  she  was  sent 
to  Philadelphia  as  a  prize,  being  purchased  by  the  govern 
ment  for  86,000  dollars.  She  was  speedily  altered  into  a 
gunboat  and  early  in  1863  was  put  in  commission.  Leaving 
Philadelphia  she  captured  a  prize  of  about  $140,000  in  value 
on  the  fourth  day  out.  Arrived  at  New  Orleans  on  April  ist, 
she  sailed  for  Brashear  City  on  the  6th,  took  two  regiments  of 
Major-General  Banks  on  board  and  landed  them  at  Grand 
Lakes,  the  next  morning  fought  and  destroyed  the  Queen  of 
the  West,  and  the  day  after  proceeded  to  the  wreck  and  re 
covered  all  the  guns,  two  fine  Parrott  rifles,  and  three 
twelve-pounder  Porterfield  pieces,  brass.  On  April  2oth  at 
tacked,  in  company  with  the  Clifton,  the  fortifications  at  Butte 
La  Rose,  silenced  the  battery  in  twelve  minutes,  capturing 


Letters  3 1 7 

the  guns,  ammunition,  114  prisoners,  and  the  small  arms. 
On  the  .  .  .  day  of  .  .  .  ,  attacked,  in  company  with 
the  Albatross,  and  repulsed  the  enemy's  gunboats  at  Fort  de 
Russy,  but  owing  to  some  misunderstanding  of  orders  was 
not  permitted  to  remain  and  destroy  them.  The  day  after 
proceeded  upon  the  expedition  with  Admiral  Porter  towards 
Alexandria,  and  on  the  .  .  .  day  of  .  .  .  ,  the 
city  surrendered  to  Captain  Upton,  a  very  wealthy  citizen 
and  one  of  influence  there,  and  a  grandson  of  Putnam 
of  revolutionary  memory  ;  he  who  killed  the  wolf  in  the 
cave,  and  about  that  anecdote  the  boys  may  read.  I  have 
been  somewhat  prolix  in  describing  the  boat  and  her  com 
mander,  because  my  relations  with  both  have  been  very 
intimate  the  last  ten  days,  and  because  she  is  again  assigned 
to  me  to  go  to  Natchez.  I  lay  on  her  with  the  fleet  under 
the  guns  of  Vicksburg  till  the  22d  inst. ;  early  in  the  morn 
ing  weighed  anchor  and  down  stream,  destroying  all  river 
transportation  as  we  passed  along — all  boats,  skiffs,  flats, 
etc.  Met  the  gunboat  Louisville  at  Grand  Gulf,  got  some 
news  from  below,  most  favorable,  touched  at  St.  Joseph, 
and  put  off  Mrs.  Rodgers.  Her  meeting  with  her  daughter 
and  under  such  circumstances,  was  a  scene  affecting  in 
the  extreme.  They  had  not  seen  each  other  for  more  than 
four  years — are  ladies  of  the  greatest  refinement.  Tak 
ing  advantage  of  circumstances  while  the  scene  was  tran 
spiring,  ordered  the  men  to  load  the  boat  with  vegetables, 
meats  and  poultry  ;  in  other  words,  foraged  extensively. 
Such  is  war.  Got  under  weigh,  and  steamed  down  to  the 
next  plantation,  where  we  stopped  all  night,  it  being  too 
dark  to  move.  Here  we  called  at  the  house  and  found  a 
pretty  and  interesting  young  lady,  much  chit  chat  and  quar 
relling  about  the  war,  and  while  we  quarrelled,  my  men  drove 
brisk  trade  with  the  negroes  for  honey,  tomatoes,  melons, 
fowl,  etc.  Under  weigh  at  eight  o'clock,  steaming  down, 
still  destroying  as  we  go.  Touched  at  Mrs.  Duncan's  planta 
tion,  abandoned,  and  in  the  hands  of  negroes  ;  will  endeavor 
to  send  with  this  some  memento  of  the  occasion.  As  we 
reached  Natchez,  discovered  cattle  in  large  numbers  that  had 
just  crossed  the  river  ;  ordered  shell  from  twelve-pound 


3 1 8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

howitzer  thrown  among  them  ;  cattle  scattered  and  drivers 
fled.  Ordered  the  boat  to  round  to  and  sent  a  missive  to  the 
civil  authorities  that  if  they  permitted  the  transit  of  cattle  or 
other  munitions  of  war  for  the  use  of  the  enemy,  I  would 
burn  and  destroy  the  city.  To  that  missive  I  received  the 
following  reply  : 

"  MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  NATCHEZ,  July  3,  1863. 
"SIR: 

' '  Your  communication  of  this  date  is  duly  at  hand.  The 
city  authorities  regret  that  you  conceive  it  necessary  to  in 
flict  such  a  penalty  as  you  name  upon  the  defenceless  inhabi 
tants  of  this  city  for  acts  of  which  they  are  innocent  and  over 
which  the  city  authorities  have  no  control.  To  avert  the 
calamity,  however,  we  will  represent  your  demand  to  the 
military  authorities  without  delay.  At  the  same  time  we 
would  observe  with  due  deference,  that  we  are  at  a  loss  to 
understand  how  the  destruction  of  the  city  will  accomplish 
the  object  you  have  in  view. 

' '  Respectfully,  your  obt.  Servant, 

"  W.  Dix,  Mayor. 
"  THOS.  KILBY  SMITH, 

"  Colonel     .     .     ." 

Not  liking  the  tone  of  the  above  despatch,  I  proceeded  to 
carry  my  threat  into  execution,  when  down  came  the  marshal 
and  begged  like  a  dog.  I  gave  my  opinion  and  ipse  dixit 
in  no  very  measured  terms,  and  taking  a  promise,  wended 
my  way,  destroying,  however,  some  sixty  skiffs  and  fleets 
at  that  point.  Anchored  in  stream  at  nine  o'clock,  July 
4th  ;  under  way  at  twelve  o'clock  ;  touched  at  plantation 
for  wood  and  forage,  vegetables,  etc.  Nine  o'clock  reached 
Port  Hudson  and  reported  to  Commodore  Palmer  on  board 
sloop-of-war  Hartford,  anchored  off  stream.  Commodore  stiff 
old  salt  of  the  old  school — about  as  stiff  I  suppose  as  Uncle 
Hunter  was  on  board  ship.  Took  on,  however,  in  behalf  of 
the  army,  about  the  same  quantity  of  airs  as  he  took  for  the 
navy,  and  imagine  he  did  not  make  much  by  the  interview 
in  the  way  of  airs.  Next  day,  July  5th,  reported  to  steamer 
Albatross,  the  captain  of  which  sent  ashore  for  horses  for  me, 


Letters 


319 


and  about  ten  o'clock  got  mounted,  with  my  orderly,  on  a 
sorry  jade  said  to  have  belonged  to  a  Secesh.  colonel  who  had 
been  taken  prisoner.  Set  off  for  General  Banks's  headquarters, 
about  twenty  miles  distant.  Sun  blazing  hot,  waded  swamp, 
passed  by  bayou,  and  lagoon,  and  through  dense  forests, 
heard  the  alligators  barking  like  young  puppies.  Saw  sugar 
cane  growing  for  the  first  time,  passed  sugar  mills,  close  to 
enemy's  pickets,  and  just  enough  of  danger  to  make  the 
jaunt  spicy  and  interesting.  Sun  broiling  ;  wore  cloth  cap 
and  felt  it  ;  should  have  been  sunstruck,  but  adopted  my  old 
precaution  of  stuffing  the  crown  with  fresh  green  leaves  every 
now  and  then — a  most  cooling  application  to  the  head.  Glad 
enough  to  reach  General  Banks's  headquarters  at  two  o'clock, 
after  a  ride  of  four  hours  ;  dismounted  thirsty  and  exhausted. 
General  met  me  with  great  courtesy — bottle  of  champagne 
and  plenty  of  ice,  cool  goblet  ;  oh,  how  refreshing  !  . 
felt  sufficiently  better  to  take  a  nap  of  an  hour,  and  then 
the  General,  by  way  of  amusement,  invited  me  to  ride  with 
him  and  staff  over  the  left  of  his  lines  ;  gave  me  a  good 
mount,  and  off  we  started  for  a  thirty  miles'  ride  and  about 
five  miles '  walk  through  the  saps  and  mines  of  his  ap 
proaches  upon  the  fortifications,  back  at  eleven  o'clock, 
supped  and  laid  down  at  twelve.  Clothes  wet  through 
with  sweat,  did  not  sleep  well,  rose,  however,  early  in  the 
morning,  July  6th.  .  .  .  Breakfast  over,  General  invited 
me  to  ride  on  the  right,  horses  saddled  and  off  at  seven. 
Rode  far  and  walked  through  more  miles  of  sap  and  made 
close  investigation  of  mines  ;  two  men  shot  through  the 
head  by  rifle  balls  close  by  my  side  ;  sharpshooters  on  both 
sides  vigilant  and  alert.  Called  upon  one  or  two  generals, 
back  to  camp  and  dinner  by  two  o'clock.  Admiral  Farragut 
made  his  appearance  before  dinner  was  through.  .  .  . 
I  imagine  rather  a  clever  man  and  a  fine  officer.  .  .  . 

July  yth  received  despatches  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  per 
telegraph,  despatch  boat  Price  having  got  aground  on  her 
way  down  ;  much  enthusiasm.  Army  fired  salutes  of  an 
hundred  guns  ;  also  navy;  drank  General  Grant's  health  ; 
took  good  care  to  have  a  despatch  intercepted  by  the  enemy, 
and  devoted  the  afternoon  to  close  investigation  of  saps, 


320  TJwmas  Kilby  Smith 

mines,  and  approaches  on  the  right  of  our  lines,  in  company 
with  General  Banks  ;  back  to  camp,  and  late  to  bed  ;  hardly 
asleep  before  General  Banks  made  his  appearance  at  my  bed 
side  in  shirt  and  drawers  to  advise  me  that  General  Gardner 
had  sent  flag  of  truce,  and  to  ask  if  what  he  had  heard  in 
reference  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  was  true.  Symptomatic  ; 
immediately  volunteered  to  go  with  flag  of  truce  myself  and 
make  proper  reply.  Rode  out  at  one  o'clock,  nine  miles  ; 
passed  our  pickets,  sounded  bugle  call,  and  shortly  afterwards 
was  met  by  enemy's  flag  with  lanthorn.  Their  party  con 
sisted  of  two  colonels  and  their  aides-de-camp  ;  had  with 
them  much  parley  ;  flag  returned,  to  consult  with  General 
Gardner  ;  agreed  to  wait  for  them  two  hours.  Flag  again 
appeared  with  despatches  for  General  Banks  and  overtures 
for  surrender.  Back  to  headquarters  at  great  speed.  Gen 
eral  Gardiner  writes  that  he  has  defended  his  post  as  long 
as  he  considers  his  duty  and  offers  terms  and  to  appoint 
commissioners  to  meet  outside  of  breastworks  to  arrange  con 
ditions.  Accordingly,  General  Banks  appointed  Brigadier- 
General  Stone,  Brigadier-General  Dwight,  and  Colonel 
Burge  commissioners,  with  instructions  to  demand  uncon 
ditional  surrender.  They  were  met  by  Colonel  Miles,  Col. 
Marshall  Smith,  and  Colonel  Steadman,  on  behalf  of  the 
enemy.  All  the  day  passed  tediously,  waiting  the  action  of 
the  commissioners.  Finally,  at  nightfall,  they  made  their 
report.  Garrison  to  be  surrendered  at  seven  o'clock  the 
following  morning,  and  a  rough  estimate  of  results  of  the 
Port  Hudson  capture  is  as  follows  : 

Upwards  of  five  thousand  prisoners,  including  one  major- 
general,  one  brigadier-general,  four  colonels,  and  large 
number  of  field  and  company  officers. 

Thirty-one  field  cannon  ; 

Twenty  S.  C.  and  siege  cannon  ; 

Major-Gen.  Frank  Gardner,  formerly  U.  S.  A.  ; 

Brigadier- General  William  Beale  ; 

Colonel  Miles  ; 

Col.  Marshall  Smith,  formerly  U.  S.  Navy  ; 

Colonel  Steadman  ; 

Major  A.  Marchent,  formerly  U.  S.  Artillery. 


Letters 


Despatches  were  at  once  prepared  for  me,  and  at  nine 
o'clock,  with  escort,  I  set  off  to  ride  over  the  same  road.  I 
came  to  place  of  hail  of  gunboats.  It  was  intensely  dark 
and  raining  hard  ;  some  miles  of  road  through  dense  and 
muddy  swamp  ;  had  to  search  for  pathway  by  aid  of  lantern  ; 
guide  at  fault  and  way  lost  ;  outside  of  picket  lines,  and  great 
danger  of  capture  ;  found  way  and  reached  Mississippi  shore 
at  three  o'clock  in  morning.  Hailed  Hartford,  and  got 
aboard  ;  reported  to  Commodore  Palmer  ;  had  Arizona  as 
signed  me  ;  got  aboard  of  her  by  the  light  of  the  wild-eyed 
dawn,  and  at  four  o'clock  laid  down  with  intense  headache 
to  court  sleep,  which  had  been  a  stranger  to  me  for  two  days 
and  two  nights.  I  had  been  much  exposed  to  sun  and 
feared  sickness.  I  lay  still  for  one  hour  and  am  then  called 
upon  by  naval  officers  anxious  for  news  ;  a  thousand  ques 
tions  about  Port  Hudson  ;  no  rest  ;  under  weigh  at  eight 
o'clock,  and  shortly  afterwards  breakfast.  .  .  .  The  cap 
tain  has  a  pet,  a  beautiful  doe,  with  whom  I  made  friends  com 
ing  down,  and  as  I  returned,  with  her  large  black  dreamy  eyes, 
she  was  apparently  glad  to  see  me  and  gave  me  welcome  by 
licking  my  hand.  She  walks  all  over  the  ship  perfectly  tame, 
and  it  seems  strange  to  me  that  an  animal  so  wild  and  timid  by 
nature  should  become  so  fond  and  gentle.  The  day  is  calm 
and  perfectly  beautiful,  the  bright  blue  sky  dappled  with 
fleecy  clouds,  the  rapid  motion  of  the  boat  stirs  the  atmos 
phere  till  it  fans  the  cheek  with  voluptuous  freshness. 
Fatigue  passes  away.  I  am  the  bearer  of  glad  tidings  of 
great  joy,  and  with  heart  elate  sail  triumphant.  For  the 
time  being,  brief  as  it  may  seem,  I  govern  on  the  quarter 
deck  of  the  yacht,  and  save  for  the  presence  of  Cleopatra, 
rival  Antony.  The  day  wears  on,  and  at  six  I  am  invited 
to  dinner.  The  captain  and  I  mess  alone,  but  with  the 
strictest  formality. 

Anchored  in  the  stream  at  eleven  o'clock  ;  too  dark  to  run. 
Friday,  July  loth,  weigh  anchor,  and  steam  up  at  four  o'clock; 
pass  Natchez  at  9  A.M.  Many  cattle  on  the  bank — evidently 
have  been  crossed  for  the  use  of  the  rebel  army — some  two 
thousand  head.  Heave  a  dozen  shell  and  send  some  rifle 


322  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

balls  among  them.  Crowds  of  men  and  women  gather  on 
the  bluffs  of  Natchez  to  see  us  pass.  We  take  on  negroes 
from  point  to  point  as  they  rush  to  the  river  side,  stalwart 
men  seeking  liberty  under  the  folds  of  the  American  flag. 
We  hail  a  skiff  containing  six  parolled  prisoners  from  Vicks- 
burg  ;  they  have  floated  down  the  river  and  are  seeking  their 
homes  at  Natchez  and  up  the  river.  Much  cannon  practice 
from  our  vessel  I  propose,  to  prevent  all  crossing  of  the  river, 
and  to  dismay  the  inhabitants.  I  find  my  hearing  much 
affected  by  close  proximity  the  past  two  or  three  months  to 
heavy  guns  while  being  rapidly  discharged.  We  meet  many 
vessels  from  Vicksburg,  seven  gunboats  ;  the  Mississippi  is 
open. 

I  hold  to-day  conversation  with  captain's  Calcutta  servant, 
an  Hindostanee  ;  speaks  and  writes  Arabic,  is  a  follower  of 
Mahomet.  If  my  memory  serves  me  right,  the  first  Mussul 
man  I  have  made  acquaintance  with,  tall,  not  quite  black, 
straight  nose,  thin  lips,  handsome.  I  hear  the  Arabic  lan 
guage  spoken  in  its  purity,  I  believe,  for  he  is  educated,  and 
also  the  Hindostanee.  He  has  travelled  throughout  China  ; 
perfectly  familiar  with  Canton,  Calcutta,  Paris,  London, 
Boston,  New  Orleans,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Australia, 
the  South  Sea  and  Pacific  Islands,  San  Francisco,  and  the 
Havannah,  and  for  the  most  part  North  America  ;  was  a 
follower  of  Nana  Sahib,  and  is  not  twenty  years  old. 

Saturday,  July  nth,  anchor  at  four  o'clock,  having  moved 
all  night  opposite  Mrs.  Fanars,  at  the  town  of  St.  Joseph  ; 
called  upon  the  ladies,  who  are  in  great  distress,  husbands 
and  fathers  being  all  under  arrest  at  Alton  .  .  .  Comfort 
the  poor  women  all  I  can,  and  here  I  may  say  to-night  I  have 
got  an  order  from  General  Grant  to  release  their  poor  devils 
of  husbands — so  that  must  be  set  to  my  credit,  if  I  am  a  fiend 
and  a  "  damned  Yank."  To-day  meet  more  gunboats,  more 
parolled  prisoners  in  skiffs.  Day  cool  and  pleasant. 

Abner  Read  was  shot  and  mortally  wounded  the  day  I  left 
Port  Hudson  ;  he  was  badly  shot,  and  could  not  possibly  re 
cover.  He  was  commander  and  a  good  deal  thought  of  by 
the  navj'.  Wife  will  remember  him  ;  he  was  a  brother  of  the 
judge. 


Letters  323 

Well,  we  arrived  at  Vicksburg  about  four  o'clock  this 
afternoon  ;  reported  to  the  Admiral  and  to  General  Grant  ; 
both  glad  to  see  me  back  and  hear  my  news,  and  on  the 
strength  of  my  report  am  ordered  to  take  some  transports 
and  some  troops  and  garrison  Natchez.  I  shall  set  sail  for 
that  point  in  the  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  and  am  writing 
for  dear  life  to-night  in  order  to  get  ready. 

HEADQUARTERS  U.  S.  FORCES, 

NATCHEZ,  Miss.,  July  19,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

To-day  is  Sunday,  one  week  since  I  wrote  you  from  Vicks 
burg.  I  had  then  just  returned  from  Port  Hudson,  and  a 
reconnoissance  of  the  river,  bringing  with  me  the  news  of 
the  reduction  or  rather  surrender  of  Port  Hudson,  and  de 
spatches  from  General  Banks.  Having  impressed  upon 
General  Grant  the  importance  of  occupying  this  point,  I  was 
sent  back  to  take  possession  of  Natchez,  by  aid  of  General 
Ransom  and  his  brigade.  This  w7as  accomplished  without 
opposition,  to  the  immense  and  mingled  surprise,  grief,  and 
indignation  of  the  people,  as  well  as  officers  and  soldiers 
whom  we  took  as  prisoners.  We  captured  some  five  thou 
sand  head  of  fine  cattle,  three  thousand  of  which  we  have 
shipped  to  Port  Hudson  and  to  Vicksburg.  We  captured 
and  destroyed  large  quantities  of  ordnance  and  ordnance 
stores,  and  great  numbers  of  small  arms.  We  are  in  the 
process  of  taking  large  quantities  of  sugar,  molasses,  corn, 
and  cotton,  belonging  to  the  so-called  Confederate  govern 
ment  ;  also  immense  quantities  of  lumber,  at  this  time  of 
large  value  to  our  army.  Our  occupation  has  been  most 
fertile  in  results.  The  plan  of  operations  was  suggested, 
and  carried  into  effect  by  me.  I  shall  never  be  known  in  it 
to  the  world  at  large,  nor  is  it  of  vast  moment,  but  it  has 
been  an  expedition  fraught  with  success,  and  I  congratulate 
myself  at  least,  so  let  it  pass. 

Natchez  is  a  beautiful  little  city  of  about  seven  thousand 
or  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  a  place  for  many  years  past 
of  no  great  business  significance,  but  rather  a  congregation 


324  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

of  wealthy  planters  and  retired  merchants  and  professional 
men,  who  have  built  magnificent  villas,  along  the  bluffs  of 
the  river  and  in  the  rear,  covering  for  the  city  a  large  space 
of  ground.  Wealth  and  taste,  a  most  genial  climate  and 
kindly  soil  have  enabled  them  to  adorn  these  in  such  man 
ner  as  almost  to  give  the  Northerner  his  realization  of  a  fairy 
tale.  Tourists,  who,  in  times  past,  have  visited  the  South, 
have  usually  selected  winter  as  the  season  for  their  journey- 
ings,  and  for  the  most  part,  have  confined  themselves  to  the 
limits  of  city  and  steamboat.  They  have  told  us  little  of 
rural  life  amid  the  opulent  of  the  South,  their  efforts  give 
but  faint  ideas  of  the  clime  or  country.  The  grand  luxuri 
ance  of  foliage  and  flower  and  fruit  of  which  this  sunny  clime 
can  boast,  has  been  denied  them,  and  is  seen  in  its  perfection 
now  and  where  my  footsteps  lead  me. 

The  house  of  ...  where  I  have  been  quartered  for 
the  past  week,  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  elegantly 
appointed  mansions  in  all  the  South.  Any  description  that 
I  can  give  of  its  superb  appointments  will  be  but  feeble. 
The  proprietor  counts  his  plantations  by  the  dozens,  his 
slaves  by  the  thousands,  those  people,  I  mean,  who  were  his 
slaves.  He  has  travelled  most  extensively  all  over  Europe  ; 
his  summers,  for  almost  his  lifetime,  have  been  passed  in 
Europe  or  at  our  Northern  watering  places.  His  family 
consists  only  of  himself  and  wife,  a  lady  of  some  thirty-five 
years,  not  beautiful,  but  thoroughbred,  tall  figure,  fine  eyes, 
good  refined  features,  a  gentle,  musical  voice,  and  a  sweet 
smile.  He,  fifty.  The  mansion  is  very  large,  great  rooms 
with  high  ceilings,  long  wide  halls,  ample  piazzas,  windows 
to  the  floor  and  opening  upon  grassy  terrace.  Walls  hung 
with  chefs  d'ocuvre  of  Europe's  and  America's  best  artists. 
Busts  from  Powers  and  Crawford,  paintings  from  Landseer 
and  Sully  and  Peal.  Everything  that  ministers  to  refined 
taste  almost  is  here.  For  the  grounds,  you  must  imagine  a 
chain  of  very  high  and  steep  bluffs,  bordering  a  wide  river 
which  winds  in  silvery  sheen  far  below,  and  is  so  serpentine 
in  its  course,  that  miles  and  miles  away,  .  .  .  }rou  can 
see  its  waters  glittering  in  the  last  sun  rays,  while  intervening 
there  are  plain  and  forest,  plantations  highly  cultivated,  and 


Letters 


325 


dotted  with  the  whitewashed  negro  quarters,  and  the  damp 
green  swamp  land.  The  river  disappears  amid  waving, 
moss-grown  trees,  to  reappear  tortuously  ribboned  amid 
canebrake  and  plain,  always  on  calm  days  a  mirror  of  the 
bright  blue  skies,  and  fleecy  clouds  of  ever-changing  forms 
of  beauty.  As  you  approach  upon  the  broad  carriage  way 
that  gracefully  sweeps  past  the  high-columned  portico,  which 
is  shaded  by  the  cypress  and  magnolia  and  crape  myrtle,  gor 
geous  in  its  bloom  and  blooming  always,  your  feet  crackling 
the  gravel  and  sea  shells,  you  are  almost  lost  in  labyrinthine 
ways  which  pass  over  terrace  and  undulating  sward,  over 
rustic  bridges,  through  cool  and  verdurous  alleys  of  gloria 
mundi,  Japan  plum,  the  live  and  water  oak,  making  literally  a 
flowery  pathway  of  exotics  of  gorgeous  coloring  and  start 
ling  magnificence,  and  almost  indigenous  to  the  soil  in  which 
they  grow,  the  river  view  bursts  suddenly  upon  you,  and  in 
the  beautiful  summer  house  you  sit  down  entranced,  wonder 
ing  if  it  is  all  real,  or  if  the  scene  has  not  been  suddenly  con 
jured  by  an  enchanted  wand.  Flowers  and  bloom  and  fruit 
are  all  around,  and  almost  sick  with  perfume  one  can  dream 
away  the  hours  in  ecstacy  of  enjoyment,  the  air  so  soft  and 
balmy,  all  so  still,  so  peaceful,  apparently  ;  one  must  here 
awhile  forget  the  lurking  serpent. 

You  return  to  the  house  by  the  orchards  and  cultivated 
lands  by  the  greenhouse,  hothouse,  and  pineries.  A  house 
that  cost  a  small  fortune  has  been  built  to  shelter  a  single 
banana  tree  that  grows  within  its  hot  atmosphere,  bears  fruit 
and  puts  forth  its  great  green  leaves  three  feet  or  more  in 
length.  Unheard-of  plants  are  clambering  about  the  con 
servatories  ;  the  more  ordinary  beauties  of  the  greenhouse 
and  of  the  parterre  smile  in  boundless  profusion  and  perfec 
tion  of  bloom.  Pines  and  figs  of  three  or  four  varieties, 
melons  I  should  be  afraid  to  tell  you  how  large,  for  you 
would  not  credit  me.  Cantaloupes,  peaches,  pears,  and  the 
most  delicious  nectarines  are  brought  fresh  to  the  table  every 
day.  Shooting  galleries  and  billiard  rooms,  elegantly  fitted 
up  for  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen,  are  placed  in  picturesque 
positions  in  the  grounds  and  gardens.  Stables  and  offices  all 
concealed,  nothing  to  offend  the  most  fastidious  taste.  One 


326  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

continually  wonders  that  such  a  Paradise  can  be  made  on 
earth. 

My  duties  are  very  nominal.  Indeed,  I  have 
nothing  to  do  but  represent  General  Grant  ...  I 
ride  a  little  way  morning  and  evening  for  exercise.  I  take 
good  care  of  myself,  and  do  not  suffer  much  from  the  heat. 
I  should  be  very  happy  if  you  were  with  me,  for  amid  all 
this  almost  voluptuous  luxury,  I  have  no  one  to  love  me  ; 
they  minister  from  fear,  not  affection.  Amid  the  busiest 
throng  I  am  very  lonely.  The  "months  that  are  passing 
slowly  away  into  years  "  are  hurrying  us  forward  to  the 
sea  of  eternitjr.  The  prime  and  vigor  of  my  life  is  going 
oh,  so  fast  !  And  all  these  months  I  have  laid  in  the  saps, 
and  trenches,  and  swamps,  and  by  the  roadside  and  in  the 
forest.  Sometimes  like  a  stag  at  bay,  ever  ready  to  spring 
upon  an  assailant,  a  heart  so  longing  for  home  and  sweet 
home  affections,  yet  so  hardened  to  suffering,  so  strange  to 
all  that  is  homelike. 


I  sit  me  down  in  quiet  and  think.  I  have  not  the  excite 
ment  of  the  battle  and  skirmish,  bivouac  and  march,  to  drain 
all  my  physical  energies  and  keep  my  heart  from  throbbing, 
at  times  anxiously  throbbing  with  anguish  unspeakable.  I 
think  of  you  all  at  home,  of  you  and  my  dear  little  children, 
of  my  darling  mother  and  sweetest  sister.  How  I  am  blessed 
in  all  of  you,  how  proud  I  am  of  all  of  you,  and  yet  sweetest 
intercourse  by  hard  sad  fate  is  denied.  I  must  work  on  in 
the  storm  of  battle,  borne  forward  on  the  wings  of  the  whirl 
wind  of  the  strife  of  the  people,  the  tornado  of  political  ele 
ments,  far  behind  I  leave  you  all  in  flowery  meads  and 
pastures  green.  The  storm  has  passed  you  and  all  is  se 
rene,  only  on  either  side  you  see  the  wreck  of  those  who 
have  fallen.  My  mission  is  not  yet  done.  I  go  to  prepare 
you  all  a  way,  if  not  for  you,  for  my  children,  if  not  for  them, 
still  for  those  who  come  after.  God's  hand  is  in  all  this,  be 
of  good  cheer,  and  fear  not.  I  complain  a  little  to  myself ; 
sometimes  I  could  cry  aloud  in  very  agony  of  spirit  ;  I  have 
been  so  desolate,  but  it  is  all  wrong.  I  have  been  selected 


Letters  327 

for  some  purpose  or  I  should  not  be  here  and  hindered  as  I 
am  from  the  heart's  best  affections  ;  it  is  meet  that  I  should 
suffer.  I  propose  to  bear  my  cross  gracefully  and  without 
murmur.  As  for  you  all,  all  who  are  dear,  oh,  how  dear  to 
me,  sister,  mother,  children,  wife,  weld  your  affections,  be 
all  in  all  to  one  another,  bear  with  each  other,  it  will  be  but 
a  little  while  ;  in  all  your  sufferings,  there  will  be  much  joy, 
and  soon,  if  not  in  this  world,  in  another  we  shall  be  to 
gether  and  at  peace. 

How  long  I  shall  stay  here,  I  am  uncertain.  I  want  to  go 
to  Mobile  and  shall  try  to  get  in  with  a  flag  of  truce,  if  I  can 
not  arrange  it  otherwise.  We  sent  there  yesterday,  by 
steamboat  City  of  Madison,  a  large  number  of  wounded  and 
sick  rebel  officers.  I  shall  return  to  Vicksburg  first,  how 
ever,  and  perhaps  before  the  close  of  this  week.  Simultane 
ously  with  the  reception  of  this  letter,  if  I  am  fortunate 
enough  in  getting  it  off,  you  will  have  heard  of  General 
Sherman's  success  at  Jackson,  where  Johnson  had  fortified 
himself.  The  victory  is  complete.  Now  we  have  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  open,  we  have  the  capital  and  two  principal 
towns  of  his  State,  the  control  of  the  whole  State,  I  wonder 
how  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  feels.  My  plans  may  be  altered 
upon  my  return  to  Vicksburg.  I  cannot  tell  yet. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

VICKSBURG,  Aug.  8,  1863. 

MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 

You  must  not  be  disappointed  at  not  seeing  me.  I  could 
go  up  for  a  brief  season  ;  but  I  dare  not  make  what  might  be 
a  sacrifice.  My  business  is  here,  and  here  I  must  stay.  I 
shall  not  return  until  my  position  is  assured  and  until  I  have 
done  my  behest  in  an  humble  way  to  perpetuate  the  salva 
tion  of  my  country.  My  heart  and  soul  is  in  this  war,  ter 
rible  as  it  is.  It  is  a  righteous  war,  forced  upon  us  as  it  has 
been  by  a  most  unholy  rebellion. 


328  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OP  THE  TENN., 

VICKSBURG,  Aug.  13,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  brief  time  to  write  you,  for  I  am  just  starting  for 
New  Orleans.  The  boat  is  now  waiting  for  me.  You  must 
not  be  anxious  if  you  do  not  hear  from  me  for  some  days. 
My  stay  at  New  Orleans  will  be  very  brief,  probably  not 
more  than  a  day. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GUI.F, 
NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Aug.  16,  1863. 

,  I  believe  I  may  be  said  literally  to  have  fought  my  way  to 
the  Gulf.  At  all  events,  I  find  myself  at  New  Orleans  after 
many  trials.  The  lower  Mississippi  is  to  me  very  beautiful 
scenery.  You  can  have  no  conception  of  the  nature  of  the 
grounds,  the  houses,  improvements,  general  appearances  of 
the  country  from  anything  you  read.  I  was  certainly  inter 
ested  and  charmed.  The  city  of  New  Orleans  is  familiar 
from  description.  I  feel  almost  as  if  I  had  been  here  before. 
General  Banks  occupies  one  of  the  most  beautiful  residences 
in  the  most  beautiful  locality.  I  am  sojourning  with  him. 
I  left  my  horses  and  servants  at  Vicksburg,  but  the  General 
has  placed  a  carriage  at  my  command.  His  establishment 
is  elegant  and  thoroughly  appointed.  The  St.  Charles 
Hotel,  the  shell  road  to  the  lake,  the  levee,  and  the  French 
portion  are  the  most  noticeable  features.  All  these  I  have 
pretty  thoroughly  investigated.  The  streets  are  perfectly 
clean,  the  police  system  above  compare,  everybody  here  is 
on  their  best  behavior.  Two  years  in  the  woods  among  the 
toads  and  snakes  has  made  me  unfamiliar  with  city  life  and 
all  sights  and  sounds  are  strange  to  me.  Memphis  is  a  mere 
village  as  compared  to  New  Orleans,  and  Vicksburg  and 
Natchez  mere  suburban  towns.  But  I  only  weary  you  with 
vague  recital  of  my  own  impressions.  As  new  and  strange 
scenes  greet  my  eye,  I  long  for  the  power  to  communicate 
with  those  I  love  and  make  them  in  some  degree  sharers  in 
my  own  emotions.  Upon  the  steamer's  deck,  in  the  whirl 


Letters 


329 


of  life,  the  rapid  transition  from  the  camp  to  what  in  demo 
cratic  America  may  be  called  the  court,  in  all  the  varied 
scenes  of  my  stirring  life,  kaleidoscopic  in  its  changes,  I 
think  of  home,  or  the  dear  group  that  makes  my  home. 
Shall  I  ever  see  any  of  you  again  ?  I  seem  impelled  by 
some  strange  destiny  forward,  always  a  little  in  advance  of 
the  army.  There  are  important  movements  in  contempla 
tion.  Soon  you  will  hear  of  them. 

Everybody  here,  out  of  the  army,  is  "  Secesh."  This  of 
course.  We  must  conquer  this  people,  wrest  the  power  of 
the  government  from  their  grasp,  prevent  their  ever  regain 
ing  power,  and  meanwhile  treat  them  kindly.  Extermina 
tion,  annihilation  is  out  of  the  question.  Oppression  will 
react. 

The  women  are  strangely  hostile.  There  is  no  difference 
among  them.  From  the  borders  of  Tennessee  to  the  Gulf 
they  are  all  alike — in  country,  town,  or  city,  but  one  feeling, 
rebellious,  coupled  with  an  antipathy  to  Northern  men  in 
conceivable,  indescribable.  They  are  herded  now  within  a 
narrow  compass,  driven,  hedged  in,  almost  girdled  by  a 
circle  of  fire.  Georgia  and  Alabama  are  full  of  them.  When 
Charleston  and  Mobile  fall,  I  do  not  know  where  they  will 
find  refuge.  As  their  men  disappear,  however,  there  will  be 
a  commingling  of  races  and  perhaps  the  nation  regenerated. 
A  long  and  bloody  war  is  still  before  us.  A  united  North 
would  finish  it  in  a  month.  Their  strange,  perverse  in 
sanity,  their  want  of  unity,  prolongs  the  struggle.  But  God 
in  his  own  good  time.  The  nation  is  being  bathed  in  fire 
and  blood.  Five  years  more  of  war  will  purge,  the  viler 
material  will  have  passed  away,  then  twenty-five  years  more 
and  the  people  may  again  hope. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
VICKSBURG,  Aug.  20,  1863. 

I  wrote  you  from  New  Orleans  and  am  now  probably  in 
advance  of  my  letter.     Circumstances  rendered  it  necessary 


330  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

for  me  to  return  with  despatch,  and  I  am  now  on  my  way  to 
Cairo,  and  probably  Memphis.  I  have  traversed  the  Missis 
sippi,  the  lower  Mississippi,  so  often  that  I  am  as  familiar 
with  its  banks  almost  as  a  river  pilot.  I  shall  leave  this 
afternoon.  Write  you  again  both  from  Memphis  and  Cairo. 

General  Grant  has  not  gone  to  Mobile,  he  is  now  in  Mem 
phis  or  on  his  return  to  this  point. 

The  health  at  New  Orleans  is  remarkably  good,  and  this 
may  be  ascribed  in  a  great  measure  to  extraordinary  cleanli 
ness  of  the  city  and  the  perfection  of  the  quarantine.  Natchez, 
too,  is  healthy,  and  I  hear  no  complaint  at  Vicksburg.  I  do 
not  believe  there  will  be  what  is  called  a  sickly  season  here, 
or  in  the  Southern  country  generally,  and  regret  to  learn 
you  anticipate  one  where  you  are.  You  speak  of  rest  for  our 
armies.  There  is,  there  will  be,  no  rest  for  armed  men  while 
this  rebellion  lasts.  We  have  sent  one  army  corps  to  rein 
force  Banks.  Our  soldiers  are  not  suffering  ;  they  are  well 
fed  and  well  clothed.  They  want  support  and  reinforcement 
from  home,  they  want  to  see  the  conscript  law  rigidly 
enforced. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

VICKSBURG,  Aug.  26,  1863. 
MY  DKAR  MOTHER  : 


I  attempted  some  description  of  these  people  in  their 
homes  and  their  luxurious  mode  of  life.  I  mean  the  opulent 
of  the  South,  generally,  without  reference  to  individuals  ; 
and  in  return  it  strikes  me,  you  give  a  little  bit  of  a  rub,  evi 
dently  fearing  that  I  should  be  seduced  from  my  Spartan 
training,  while  treading  their  flowery  paths  of  dalliance. 
You  need  not  be  alarmed.  I  have  come  back  to  my  narrow 
cot  and  canvas  roof  without  one  pang  of  regret.  I  enjoy 
luxury  for  the  brief  season  it  is  accorded  me,  but  I  know 
it  only  tends  to  enervate.  On  many  accounts,  I  like  the 
South,  but  its  influences  are  baneful,  its  atmosphere,  physi- 


Letters  331 

cal  and  moral,  poisonous,  except  to  those  who  have  been 
purged  and  purified  by  misfortune  and  the  stern  necessity 
for  exertion  ;  whose  constitutions  of  iron  have  been  ham 
mered  into  steel.  I  remember  the  rockbound  shores  of  New 
^England  perfectly.  The  icy  crags  over  which,  with  iron 
spikes  to  my  shoes,  I  have  toiled  and  clambered  on  my  way 
to  and  from  school  in  midwinter.  Do  you  quite  remember, 
I  was  but  six  years  old  when  I  made  those  journeys  of  two 
miles  to  Master  Manley's  from  the  "  Sanderson  Beach,"  as  I 
used  to  call  them;  that  was  before  Walter  was  born. 

I  have  been  brought  to  a  most  abrupt  stop  in  my  proceed 
ings  and  hardly  know  how  to  resume  my  thread.  You  must 
pardon  my  discursive  epistles.  I  have  this  moment  been 
handed  your  favor  of  i4th  inst.  Mrs.  Sherman  is  on  a  visit 
to  her  husband.  I  went  out  there  a  day  or  two  ago  to  make 
a  call  upon  her.  She  spoke  of  you  all  with  much  interest, 
and  regretted  her  previous  inability  to  visit  you  ;  hoped  to 
be  able  to  do  so  upon  her  return.  She  is  a  very  charming 
person. 

There  are  two  brilliant  examples  now  before  the  nation 
standing  out  in  bold  relief,  in  fact  before  the  whole  civilized 
world  ;  their  history  is  good  for  little  boys  to  know.  Let 
my  sons  ponder  upon  it.  One  is  General  Grant  and  the 
other  General  Banks.  Both  were  born  of  very  poor  parents, 
both  had  to  labor  hard  for  a  livelihood  in  the  country  in 
their  boyhood.  General  Grant's  father  lived  in  Brown 
County,  Ohio,  near  Georgetown.  The  first  money  he  ever 
earned  or  that  was  paid  to  him,  was  for  a  load  of  rags, 
that  with  great  enterprise  he  gathered  together  in  and 
about  the  town,  drove  to  Cincinnati,  a  distance  of  forty 
miles,  in  a  two-horse  wagon,  by  himself,  sold  for  fifteen  dol 
lars,  and  returned  triumphant.  He  had  his  money  in  silver 
and  he  was  the  richest  boy  in  all  that  section  of  country. 
This  was  before  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  as  the  en 
terprise  originated  with  himself,  and  was  carried  out  suc 
cessfully,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of  bad  roads,  the 
winter  season,  his  diminutive  stature,  it  perhaps  gave  as 
good  evidence  of  great  generalship  as  anything  he  has  done 


332  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

since.  He  went  to  West  Point  from  the  village  school  and 
graduated  as  the  best  rider  of  the  academy — the  best,  be 
cause  the  boldest.  After  he  had  been  brevetted  three  times 
for  his  gallantry  in  Mexico,  he  had  to  resign  a  captaincy  be 
cause  he  was  too  poor  to  support  his  family  ;  went  to  farming 
near  St.  Louis,  and  there  was  not  ashamed  to  drive  his  own 
team  loaded  with  wood  to  the  city.  He  came  into  the  ser 
vice  again  as  captain  of  Volunteers.  He  has  told  me  him 
self  of  these  things,  and  that  his  best  training  was  before  he 
went  to  the  military  academy.  I  do  not  want  my  boys  to  be 
afraid  to  work.  I  want  them  to  ride  and  shoot  and  fish  and 
to  know  how  to  do  it  all  well,  and  above  all  not  to  be  afraid 
of  anything  or  anybody  but  God,  or  afraid  to  do  anything 
but  tell  a  lie,  and  no  matter  what  they  do,  they  must  not  be 
afraid  to  tell  of  it.  They  must  never  take  an  insult  from  any 
boy  or  man.  If  a  girl  or  woman  insult  them  laugh  at  or 
kiss  her.  Never  quarrel  ;  if  there  has  to  be  a  word  or  a 
blow,  let  the  blow  come  first.  But  I  was  going  to  write  a 
word  about  General  Banks.  His  father  was  a  woodsawyer  ; 
.  .  .  his  boyhood  was  of  toil,  privation,  and  mortifica 
tion,  yet  to-day  he  is  one  of  the  most  courteous,  gentle, 
kindly  men  in  all  the  world.  He  has  done  for  himself  what 
no  teachers  could  have  done  for  him,  however  high  their 
salary  or  brilliant  their  reputation.  These  are  dazzling  in 
stances,  but  they  are  exponents  of  a  fact.  This  war  has 
brought  out  a  latent  talent,  a  hidden  strength  of  character 
in  the  individual,  that  astounds  the  world,  but  we  almost 
invariably  find  it  exhibited  among  those  who  in  their  early 
years  have  been  compelled  to  depend  upon  themselves  for 
thought  and  action. 


In  my  last  to  my  wife,  I  said  I  should  write  next  from 
Cairo  or  Memphis,  but  no  sooner  had  I  despatched  that 
letter  than  I  received  intelligence  which  caused  a  change  in 
my  movements.  I  shall  remain  here  till  General  Grant  re 
turns.  The  weather  has  been  very  pleasant  for  some  time 
past,  nights  cool  enough  for  two  blankets.  I  am  sitting 
now  in  a  very  wet  tent,  with  my  feet  propped  up  to  keep 


Letters  333 

them  out  of  the  water  ;  it  is  raining  very  hard  and  is  quite 
cold.  I  am  most  agreeably  disappointed  in  the  summers  of 
the  South  ;  take  them,  if  the  two  seasons  I  have  experienced 
are  a  test,  from  end  to  end,  they  are  more  pleasant  than 
our  own. 

I  received  three  or  four  days  ago,  a  notice  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  that  the  President  has  appointed  me  brigadier- 
general,  my  rank  to  date  from  the  nth  Aug.  "  for  gallant 
conduct  and  service  in  the  field."  This  I  suppose  applied 
to  my  assaults  of  the  igth  and  22d  May,  upon  the  enemy's 
fortifications  at  Vicksburg.  ' '  Shiloh  ' '  and  Russell' s  House, 
Corinth,  Chickasas  Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  all  I  suppose 
went  for  naught,  or  what  is  more  probable,  the  President 
never  saw  my  papers.  I  don't  know  how  he  could  get  over 
the  petition  of  my  command  endorsed  by  my  commanding 
generals.  The  assault  of  the  igth  was  the  most  murderous 
affair  I  was  ever  in,  but  I  have  led  troops  in  battles  that 
lasted  much  longer  and  where  I  have  lost  more  men,  and  in 
which  I  have  been  as  much  exposed. 


I  have  had  congratulations  and  serenades  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing  galore,  for,  as  is  not  unusual,  I  have  found  in  my 
case  that  a  prophet  has  honor  save  in  his  own  country.  I 
have  some  friends  and  pretty  warm  ones  in  the  army.  My 
old  command  is  encamped  about  eighteen  miles  from  here 
near  Black  River,  and  General  Sherman  is  not  far  away 
from  them.  He  got  news  of  my  appointment  by  telegraph 
and  rode  over  to  tell  them  the  news,  whereat  there  was  a 
perfect  yell.  The  old  fellow  was  about  as  glad  as  the  boys 
from  all  I  hear,  and  together  they  had  a  love  feast.  I  sup 
pose  you  have  heard  of  the  appointment  through  the  papers, 
though  of  course  it  is  under  a  misnomer,  and  it  will  be  old 
news  to  you. 

General  Grant  has  been  away  the  last  ten  days  and  there 
is  hardly  anybody  at  headquarters  but  myself.  I  am  look 
ing  for  him  every  day,  and  upon  his  return  shall  be  some 
what  relieved. 


334  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
VICKSBURG,  Aug.  29,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  wrote  you  yesterday  and  shortly  after  my  letter  was 
mailed,  was  gratified  by  the  return  of  General  Grant.  He 
congratulated  me  warmly  upon  my  appointment,  at  which 
he  is  evidently  sincerely  rejoiced  and  desired  me  to  direct  the 
enclosed  letter  to  you.  It  is  sealed,  and  I  do  not  know  its 
contents  ;  if  complimentary,  I  hope  it  may  be  preserved  for 
my  children  in  future  years.  General  Grant  is  destined  to 
wield  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  nation.  His  name  will 
be  closely  linked  with  the  history  of  the  age.  I  am  proud 
of  his  friendship  and  of  the  great  confidence  he  reposes  in  me. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

VICKSBURG,  Sept.  i,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  am  about  to  accompany  General  Grant  to  New  Orleans  ; 
shall  start  this  evening  and  be  gone  some  eight  or  ten  days, 
so  that  if  you  do  not  hear  from  me  as  regularly  as  usual  you 
must  not  be  anxious. 


NEW  ORLEANS,  Sept.  6,  1863. 

My  last  was  dated  from  Natchez,  advising  you  of  my  intent 
to  come  here.  Yours  of  2ist  was  received  at  this  point  day 
before  yesterday.  Our  trip  down  the  river  was  safe  and 
pleasant,  and  we  were  fortunate  in  not  being  fired  upon  by 
the  guerillas.  The  steamboat  Julia,  which  preceded  us,  was 
fired  upon  and  three  men  wounded.  Our  reception  in  New 
Orleans  was  very  brilliant — serenades,  calls,  a  magnificent 
evening  reception  or  levee  by  General  Banks,  and  yesterday 
a  grand  review.  The  parade  grounds  are  some  eight  miles 
from  the  city.  We  rode  out  011  horseback,  and  I  am  sony 
to  say  our  festivities  were  or  are  interrupted  by  a  rather  seri 
ous  accident.  The  two  generals  and  their  staff  made  a  large 


Letters  335 

cavalcade.  General  Grant  was  riding  a  fine  but  unbroken 
horse  and  on  our  return  the  animal  shied  upon  a  carriage 
and  fell  ;  he  was  in  advance  and  at  rapid  speed  ;  the  officer 
following  was  out  of  place,  and  rode  over  him  and  the  tramp 
ling  of  the  horse  bruised  him  severely.  We  took  him  in  a 
state  of  insensibility  into  a  roadside  inn  before  which  the 
accident  occurred,  and  where  he  now  lies  in  the  room  in 
which  I  write.  His  thigh  is  badly  injured  and  he  cannot 
move  his  leg,  but  he  is  better  this  morning  and  I  think  can 
be  moved  in  a  day  or  two  ;  with  the  residue  of  his  staff,  I 
remain  to  take  care  of  him. 

The  weather  here  has  been  sultry  until  to-day  ;  a  fine 
breeze  is  stirring  and  I  think  we  shall  soon  have  rain.  It  was 
intensely  hot  during  the  review,  which  was  tedious,  there 
being  some  fifteen  thousand  troops  to  be  reviewed  at  once. 
My  clothes  were  dripping  wet  with  perspiration,  as  if  I  had 
been  in  a  rainstorm, — but  then  I  had  motion,  gladsome  mo 
tion,  and  "  motion  to  an  endless  end  is  needful  for  man's 
heart." 


NEW  ORLEANS,  Sept.  7,  1863. 

I  open  my  letter  to  enclose  a  couple  of  cartes,  one  of  Gen 
eral  Grant,  the  other  you  will  probably  recognize.  I  will 
send  the  cartes  of  the  residue  of  the  staff  to-morrow.  They 
were  all  taken  hurriedly,  the  weather  intensely  hot  and  the 
time  noon,  when  we  were  all  pretty  tired,  having  had  no 
sleep  for  two  or  three  nights.  .  .  .  Some  day,  when  I  'm 
in  a  better  humor,  and  get  all  my  toggery  together,  I  '11  have 
one  taken  in  full  uniform  for  you.  The  Adjutant- General 
of  the  United  States  lent  me  his  coat  to  be  taken  in,  and  his 
figure  being  smaller  than  mine,  makes  me  look  pinched  in 
the  breast  ;  it  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  button  it  over. 

General  Grant  is  much  improved  this  morning,  and  I 
think  will  be  out  soon  again.  Meanwhile,  we  are  all  very 
quiet  and  comfortably  provided  for.  My  diet  being  soft 
shell  crabs  and  pompinot  and  nice  fish  that  is  brought  me 


336  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

from  the  Gulf.     General  Banks  calls,  and  all  the  other  gen 
erals,  and  we  are  at  no  loss  for  society. 

p.  S. — There  is  a  group  of  the  General  and  his  staff  finish 
ing  while  I  write.  Send  in  a  few  days. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

VlCKSBURG,  Sept.  15,   1863. 

My  visit  to  New  Orleans  and  the  forts  some  one  hundred 
miles  further  south  has  been  fraught  with  much  interest.  I 
do  not  remember  in  all  my  life  to  have  had  so  much  hilarity 
and  joy  crowded  into  so  brief  a  space  of  time. 

It  has  literally  been  a  triumphal  march.  The  only  alloy 
being  the  unfortunate  accident  to  General  Grant,  who,  I  am 
happy  to  say,  is  safely  at  these  headquarters,  though  I  fear 
his  accident  will  confine  him  to  his  bed  for  a  good  while. 

The  New  Orleans  papers  have  been  filled  with  allusions 
to  us  in  various  terms  of  compliment.  General  Banks  has 
been  most  assiduous  in  attention. 

Of  all  this  I  will  write  you  more  at  length  the  moment  I 
find  leisure.  I  have  been  assigned  to  active  duty  in  the  field 
and  to  command  the  Second  Brigade,  Sixth  Division,  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  reporting  for  duty  to  Major-Gen.  J.  B. 
McPherson,  who,  I  am  happy  to  say,  is  my  personal  friend. 
Of  this  matter  I  will  write  more  anon.  Suffice  it  now  to  say 
that  the  command  is  a  very  fine  one,  an  eminently  fighting 
brigade,  and  one  that  distinguished  itself  on  my  left  in  the 
assault  on  Vicksburg. 


HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

VICKSBURG,  Sept.  20,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  want  now  to  impress  upon  you,  and  I  think  you  at  least, 
or  at  the  last,  will  understand  me  and  know  I  am  in  earnest, 
that  General  Grant  is  the  man  of  the  nation,  that  the  eyes 
of  the  nation  are  turned  upon  him,  that  he  has  a  world-wide 


Letters 


337 


celebrity,  I  was  going  to  write,  but  I  should  write,  world 
wide  honest  fame,  and  I  should  inform  you  further  that  he 
does  not  write  much  or  say  much,  but  whatever  he  writes  or 
says  is  strictly  to  the  point. 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENN., 

VlCKSBURG,  Sept.  20,   1863. 

Mail  of  this  morning  brings  your  congratulations.  I  have 
been  so  long  a  brigadier  that  the  mere  rank  added  makes  but 
little  difference  in  my  feelings. 

I  wrote  you  yesterday,  urging  you  to  write  to  General 
Grant  ;  a  few  minutes  since  he  showed  me  your  letter  to  him 
of  even  date  with  mine,  eloquent  and  well  expressed,  but 
brief.  You  must  write  to  him  more  at  length.  In  my  judg 
ment  he  will  be  confined  to  his  bed  for  a  long  time  with  his 
injury.  Such  letters  as  you  could  wrrite  would  interest  him 
more  than  you  can  well  imagine. 

I  must  tell  you  an  incident  which  occurred  to  me  the  other 
day,  before  I  went  to  New  Orleans.  The  city  of  Natchez 
had  sent  up  a  delegation  to  wait  upon  General  Grant,  who 
turned  them  over  to  me.  I  was  to  escort  them  around  the 
fortifications,  and  the  General  gave  the  principal  man,  the 
mayor,  his  war-horse  to  ride — a  splendid  cream-colored 
stallion,  a  little  vicious.  I  was  riding  Bell,  a  horse  you  have 
never  seen,  but  confessed  the  finest  horse  in  the  army,  East 
or  West  ;  all  have  said-  so  who  have  seen  him — a  large 
powerful  brown  or  mahogany  bay,  great  in  battle,  one  who 
will  yield  the  right  of  way  to  none.  Well,  we  were  riding 
in  a  very  narrow  gorge,  the  mayor  had  dismounted  to  lead 
his  horse  over  a  bad  place,  being  in  advance  of  me,  wrhen  all 
at  once  he  turned  and  a  terrific  conflict  took  place  between 
the  two  horses.  I  seized  the  bridle  of  the  General's,  en 
deavoring  to  manage  both  ;  at  the  same  moment  mine  reared 
straight  upon  his  hind  legs.  I  dismounted  in  the  expecta 
tion  that  he  would  fall  upon  me,  and  as  I  touched  the  ground 
fell.  Then  these  two  great  stallions,  full  of  fire  and  fury, 
fought  over  my  prostrate  body,  their  hoofs  struck  together 


338  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  each  trampled  within  an  inch  of  my  head  all  around  and 
over  me.  I  lay  still  as  if  I  had  been  in  bed  ;  I  knew  my 
hour  had  not  yet  come.  My  own  horse  was  the  first  to  per 
ceive  my  danger  ;  he  retired  a  little  from  regard  to  me. 
Those  who  were  by  were  speechless  and  horror-stricken.  I 
rose  unharmed,  mounted  and  rode  forward.  I  have  never 
been  in  greater  peril  of  my  life.  God  watches  me  in  calm 
and  in  storm. 

My  old  regiment  wanted  to  make  me  a  present  of  a  saddle 
and  bridle,  and  I  am  told  raised  in  a  few  moments  $975  for 
that  purpose,  and  the  thing  was  to  be  extended  to  sword, 
sash,  pistols,  everything  complete. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
SECOND  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

NATCHEZ,  Miss.,  Sept.  27,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WiFK  : 

My  reception  at  Natchez  has  been  very  brilliant,  splendid 
dinners,  suppers — all  that  sort  of  thing,  with  speeches,  and 
songs,  mirth  and  hilarity.  My  command  is  magnificent.  I 
have  six  regiments,  and  a  battery,  one  regiment  cavalry,  one 
of  mounted  infantry.  My  quarters  are  literally  a  palace, 
one  of  the  most  elegant  houses  in  or  about  Natchez,  situated 
in  the  most  lovely  grounds  you  can  imagine,  within  about 
a  mile  from  the  city. 

My  troops  are  all  camped  close  around  me  on  the  grounds 
of  neighboring  villas,  which,  combined,  have  heretofore  given 
the  name  of  ' '  Dignity  Hill ' '  to  my  own  general  encamp 
ment.  One  of  my  regiments  is  in  town  on  duty  as  provost 
guard.  The  residue  keep  close  guard  and  watch  upon  their 
chief,  and  no  baron  in  feudal  hall  ever  had  more  loyal  sub 
jects.  The  rides  and  walks  about  are  all  most  charming, 
especially  at  this  season  of  the  year,  and  I  am  in  a  constant 
state  of  regret  that  you  cannot  be  here  to  enjoy  it  with  me. 
If  there  was  any  indication  as  to  how  long  I  am  to  remain, 
I  would  send  for  you  ;  but  I  may  be  ordered  away  at  a  mo- 


Letters 


339 


merit's  notice.  Indeed,  I  have  no  expectation  of  staying 
here  more  than  eight  or  ten  days  at  the  furthest.  I  shall 
either  be  ordered  back  to  Vicksburg  or  directed  into  the  field. 
Meanwhile  I  shall  take  the  good  the  gods  provide  me. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
FIRST  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

NATCHEZ,  OCT.  7,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  knew  you  would  write  me  on  the  23d  ;  felt  that  even  as 
I  was  writing  you  on  the  selfsame  day,  perhaps  at  the  same 
hour,  our  spirits  were  in  commune.  What  is  there  in  all  this 
world  so  sweet,  so  pure,  so  holy  as  a  mother's  love  ?  Darling 
mother,  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart  and  all  my  mind,  and 
all  my  strength,  but  my  love  for  you  is  nothing  in  compari 
son  with  yours  for  me  that  has  continued  so  constant,  so  un 
wavering,  for  all  these  years,  these  long,  long  years  which 
yet  are  nothing  to  look  back  upon. 

It  is  true  as  you  remark,  I  have  travelled  much,  very 
much  in  the  past  season — have  traversed  many,  many  miles 
by  land  and  water  ;  ten  times  up  and  down  the  river  when 
the  banks  were  infested  by  guerrillas,  never  shot  into  once, 
other  boats  preceding  and  succeeding  me  constantly  attacked. 
I  seem  to  have  borne  nearly  a  charmed  life.  God  has  been 
very  good  to  me.  I  see  by  the  papers,  as  well  as  by  your 
letter,  that  Bill  Lytle  has  gone  under  at  last  ;  poor  fellow, 
his  was  a  gallant  spirit,  and  he  has  gone  where  the  good 
soldiers  go.  The  best  death  to  die — ' '  We  tell  his  doom 
without  a  sigh,  for  he  is  freedom's  now  and  fame's." 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
FIRST  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  Oct.  14,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

My  last  advices  to  you  have  been  from  Natchez.     Since 
then,  I  have  hurriedly  changed  my  base.     How  long  I  shall 


340  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

remain  here  will  depend  upon  other  moves  and  circum 
stances.  You  must  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  worried  for  me 
if  many  days  at  a  time  elapse  without  intelligence  from  me  ; 
of  course,  communication  won't  be  continually  interrupted. 
I  left  very  pleasant  and  luxurious  quarters  at  Natchez,  and 
some  good  and  kind  friends,  to  come  into  the  field  and  the 
bivouac,  soldiers'  fates,  and  we  make  the  best  of  it. 


HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
FIRST  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

VlCKSBURG,  MISS.,  Oct.  20,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

General  Grant  received  your  letter  and  of  this  I  have 
written  before.  He  is  now  gone,  I  don't  know  whither — 
flitted  with  his  staff  and  surroundings  before  I  had  come 
back,  as  the  swallows  flit  in  the  fall.  I  do  not  think  you 
have  got  a  right  estimate  of  Sherman.  You  call  him  ' '  slow, 
cautious,  almost  to  a  fault."  On  the  contrary,  he  is  as  quick 
as  lightning,  the  most  rapid  thinker,  actor,  writer,  I  ever 
came  in  contact  with — proud  and  high-spirited  as  an  Arab 
horse.  Grant  is  slow  and  cautious,  and  sure  and  lucky. 
They  are  both  good  men.  Men  you  would  admire  if  you 
knew  them,  and  men  who  upon  first  blush  you  would  be 
marvellously  deceived  in. 

You  ask  about  the  tribute  from  the  old  "  54th."  I  under 
stand  the  boys  have  made  arrangements  to  fit  me  out  ;  but 
have  n't  received  the  articles.  Somebody  said  that  they  were 
sumptuous.  I  suppose  they  would  get  the  best  that  money 
could  buy,  for  they  think  a  heap  of  "  old  Kilby  " — the  only 
name  by  which  I  am  known  in  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps. 
Strangers  used  to  come  and  ask  for  Kilby,  and  for  a  long 
time  I  rarely  heard  the  name  of  Smith  as  applied  to  myself. 
I  don't  know  but  what  their  presents  have  been  burnt  up  or 
sunk  in  the  river.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  loss  lately. 
When  they  come,  I  will  let  you  know  and  tell  you  all  about 
them. 


Letters  341 

Enclosed  herewith  find  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  General 
Sherman  to  the  i3th  Regulars  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  his  son  at  Memphis.  I  saw  a  copy  by  accident  to-day,  and 
together  with  the  brief  notice  that  his  son  had  died,  is  the 
only  intelligence  I  have.  He  had  his  boy  with  him,  a  bright, 
active  little  fellow,  who  rode  with  him  wherever  he  went, 
and  who  was  a  great  pet  with  his  own  old  regiment,  the  i3th 
Regulars.  You  know  General  Sherman  came  into  the  ser 
vice  as  colonel  of  this  regiment  at  the  outset  of  the  war.  The 
death  must  have  been  sudden,  and  you  perceive  by  the  tenor 
of  the  letter  how  deeply  he  feels  it.  I  do  assure  you  that  we 
find  every  day  in  the  service,  that  "  the  bravest  are  the 
tenderest,  the  loving  are  the  daring."  I  will  forward  your 
letter  to  him,  and  perhaps  you  had  better  address  him  again 
on  the  occasion  of  his  bereavement.  I  am  sure  he  is  a  dear 
friend  of  mine,  and  in  the  chances  of  this  war,  calculating 
upon  his  position  and  mine,  it  is  hardly  probable  we  shall 
meet  again.  Like  him,  "  on,  on,  I  must  go,  till  I  meet  a 
soldier's  fate,  or  see  my  country  rise  superior  to  all  factions, 
till  its  flag  is  adored  and  respected  by  ourselves  and  all  the 
powers  on  earth, ' '  *  and  now  our  paths  are  slightly  divergent. 
Can  you  imagine  it,  even  as  I  write,  the  enclosed  order  is 
handed  me,  and  received  without  one  pang  of  regret.  I  copy 
verbatim.  You  may  understand  the  chances  and  changes 
of  a  soldier's  life.  The  darky  says,  "  here  to-morrow  and 
gone  to-day. ' ' 

"Special  Orders) 
"No.  236.        f 

"HEADQUARTERS  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"  DEPT.  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

"VlCKSBURG,    MISS.,    Oct.    20,    1863. 

"  Brig.-Genl.  K.  S.  Dennis,  U.  S.  Vols.,  will  report  forth 
with  to  Genl.  McArthur,  to  be  assigned  to  command  of 
Second  Brigade,  First  Division,  and  will  relieve  Brig.-Genl. 
T.  K.  Smith. 

"  Brig.-Genl.  T.  K.  Smith,  on  being  relieved  from  com 
mand  of  Second  Brigade,  First  Division,  will  proceed  forth 
with  to  Natchez,  Miss.,  and  report  to  Brig.-Genl.  M.  M. 

1  General  Sherman's  letter  to  Capt.  C.  C.  Smith  13th  Regulars. 


342  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Crocker,   commanding  Fourth  Division,  for  assignment  to 
command  of  Brigade  in  Fourth  Division. 

"  By  order  of        Maj.-Genl.  McPHERSON, 

"W.  T.CLARK, 

"A.  A.  General. 
"  Brig.-Genl.  T.  K.  SMITH, 

"  Com'g  Second  Brigade,  First  Division." 

Thus  you  perceive,  having  licked  the  Second  Brigade  into 
shape,  I  am  assigned  elsewhere.  Meanwhile,  pray  for  me, 
and  thank  God  that  everything  has  transpired  to  take  me 
out  of  the  filthy  God-forsaken  hole  on  a  hill.  My  next  will 
be  from  Natchez  and  will  contain  full  directions  how  to  ad 
dress  me.  Keep  writing,  and  enclose  my  letters  with  request 
to  forward  to  Major-Genl.  James  B.  McPherson,  commanding 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  Department  of  the  Tennessee, 
Vicksburg,  Miss.  He  is  my  warm,  intimate,  personal  friend, 
and  will  see  that  all  come  safe  to  hand.  I  enclose  you  his 
carte.  He  is  very  handsome,  a  thorough  soldier,  brave  as 
Caesar,  young,  a  bachelor,  and — engaged  to  be  married. 

Genl.  M.  M.  Crocker,  to  whom  I  am  about  to  report,  is  a 
most  excellent  gentleman  and  eke  a  soldier,  thank  God! 
graduate  of  the  Military  Academy  of  West  Point,  also  an  in 
timate  of  mine  and  friend.  Somehow  or  other,  the  West 
Pointers  all  take  to  me,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  I  find  my 
way  among  soldiers.  You  can't  understand  all  this,  but  it 
is  most  delightful  to  have  a  soldier,  a  real  soldier,  for  a  com 
mander  and  associate.  Natchez,  by  this  time  is  a  second 
home  to  me.  I  know  a  heap  of  people  and  have  some  good 
friends  even  among  the  ' '  Secesh. ' '  I  may  be  there  a  day, 
a  month,  a  year,  nobody  knows  and  nobody  cares.  I  can 
pack,  and  ' '  get  up  and  dust  ' '  as  quickly  as  any  of  them. 

HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  BRIGADE, 
FIRST  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  Oct.  22,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  propose  sending  to  you  to-day,  per  Adams'  Express 
Company,  a  box  of  pictures. 


The  group  will  be  interesting  to  strangers,  containing 


as 


MAJOR-GENERAL   U.    S.    GRANT  AND  OFFICERS, 

NEW    ORLEANS,     1 863. 


(,SVt> /«£•<-•  343.) 


Letters 


343 


it  does,  Generals  Grant  and  Thomas  ;  the  other  gentlemen 
are  members  of  General  Grant's  staff — Captain  Jane,  Colonel 
Duff,  Colonel  Riggin,  and  Captain  Carncross,  the  latter  aid 
to  General  Thomas. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  results  of  the  late  election, 
partial  news  of  which  has  this  night  reached  me.  The  sol 
diers  of  Ohio  will  begin  to  feel  that  they  may  yet  find  a  home 
outside  their  camp.  I  think  Mr.  Pugh  and  his  tool,  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  have  gone  to  their  political  grave,  from 
which  there  will  be  no  resurrection. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 

FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

Natchez,  Oct  26,  1863. 

By  former  letters  you  will  understand  my  heading  and 
dates  ;  lest,  however,  they  should  not  have  been  received,  I 
will  recapitulate,  by  the  remark  that  I  have  been  relieved 
from  the  command  of  the  Second  Brigade,  First  Division, 
now  employed  at  garrison  duty  in  Vicksburg,  and  have  been 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  Fourth  Divi 
sion.  My  headquarters  at  present  at  Natchez  and  the  same 
quarters  I  formerly  occupied.  This  change  is  entirely  agree 
able  to  me,  the  command  equally  good. 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 

FIFTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  TENNESSEE,  Nov.  19,  1863. 

Your  wildest  dreams  never  shadowed  forth  the  life  I  lead. 
I  retain  my  business  headquarters  at  ' '  Kenilworth, ' '  a  most 
sumptuous  and  elegant  house  ;  but  for  my  private  quarters  I 
occupy  "  Auburn,"  a  seat  nearly  adjacent,  and  the  prop 
erty  of  Dr.  .  .  .  the  largest  cotton  planter  and,  prob 
ably,  the  richest  man  in  the  South.  You  may  imagine  my 
menage.  He  is  in  New  York  ;  but  I  am  rarely  permitted 
to  dine  at  home.  There  are  several  families,  at  whose  table 
a  cover  is  always  laid  for  me,  and  the  stated  entertainments 
are  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  I  have  never  seen  in  New 


344  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

York  or  elsewhere  anything  approaching  the  style  of  living 
of  the  wealthy  here.  ...  I  wish  you  could  see  my 
apartments  this  morning— perfect  conservatories.  My  tables 
are  covered  with  bouquets,  camellias,  and  violets,  and  gera 
niums  in  lavish  profusion.  The  air  here  now  is  soft  and 
balmy,  the  weather  like  our  Indian  summer  ;  not  quite  so 
cool.  The  mercury,  as  I  write,  stands  in  the  shade  at 
seventy-eight  degrees. 

I  wrote  you  that  the  beautiful  sword,  sash,  belt,  etc.,  that 
had  been  presented  to  me,  was  sunk.  It  was  recovered,  but 
very  much  spoiled.  The  agent  would  not  receive  it  from  the 
express  company  at  Vicksburg,  and  I  have  never  seen  it. 
The  saddle  and  bridle  came  safe  enough  and  are  very  fine. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OE  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"  CAMP  KII,BY,"  Miss.,  Dec.  15,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  am  glad  you  were  pleased  with  the  pictures,  though  I 
think  they  were  all  wretched.  I  do  assure  you  I  was  any 
thing  but  sad  when  mine  was  taken  ;  indeed,  we  were  all  in 
a  high  frolic.  I  believe  it  is  the  general  expression  of  my 
countenance  when  in  repose.  General  Grant's  was  a  very 
fine  one  till  the  painter  ruined  it  with  his  daub.  The  group 
is  worth  keeping  and  will  be  historical. 

Our  weather  here  is  most  delightful  ;  until  within  a  day  or 
two  perfectly  pleasant  without  a  fire.  Yesterday  a  thunder 
storm  and  to-day  bright,  clear,  and  bracing,  something  like 
your  October  weather.  My  camp  is  outpost  in  a  very  wild, 
broken,  barren  country.  I  am  in  front,  and  nearest  to  the 
enemy.  We  exchange  compliments  occasionally.  Yester 
day  the  caitiffs  captured  a  couple  of  my  men  who  had  ven 
tured  beyond  the  guard  line.  So  we  are  on  the  qui  vive,  and 
that  keeps  the  blood  stirred. 

I  have  left  a  life  of  great  luxury  at  Natchez—"  fortune  la 
guerre. ' ' 


Letters  345 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OE  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"CAMP  KII^BY,"  Miss.,  Dec.  13,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 


My  command  has  been  ordered  from  Natchez  and  thrown 
to  the  front.  I  am  encamped  farthest  to  the  front  and  close 
to  the  enemy's  lines  near  Black  River.  In  a  future  letter  I 
will  send  you  map  upon  which  you  can  locate  my  position. 
The  country  is  very  wild  and  broken,  and  has  always  been 
sparsely  inhabited.  It  is  now  wild  and  desolate  in  the  ex 
treme.  I  am  upon  a  chain  of  bluffs  cut  up  by  the  most  ex 
traordinary  fissures.  The  subsoil  has  no  tenacity,  not  sooner 
does  the  upper  crust  give  way  than  the  substratum  dissolves 
like  sugar,  making  the  most  hideous  chasms  and  rents.  The 
soil  is  bare  and  apparently  barren  save  where  the  forest  is 
undisturbed  ;  but  this  is  only  in  appearance,  for  here  the 
best  cotton  has  been  grown. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"  CAMP  KIIJBY  "  IN  THE  FiEU>,  Dec.  22,  1863. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  all  living  comfortably  and 
contented.  You  none  of  you  have  the  most  remote  idea  of 
the  horrors  of  war,  or  the  desolation  and  despair  that  is  left 
in  the  track  of  large  armies.  I  have  known  w7omen  whose 
husbands  and  brothers,  and  sons,  have  been  forcibly  con 
scripted,  torn  away  from  them  at  midnight  by  the  rebels,  left 
without  food,  fire,  or  clothes,  sometimes  sick  in  bed.  I  have 
known  others  who,  two  years  ago,  were  of  the  most  opulent 
in  the  land,  who  counted  their  yearly  incomes  by  the  hun 
dreds  of  thousands,  begging  for  food  from  our  commissary. 
I  don't  know  how  it  may  be  at  the  North.  I  am  told  by 
those  who  have  returned  from  visits  home,  that  the  people 
they  have  met  are  callous  and  careless,  and  ignorant  of  the 
state  of  affairs  here.  This  war  has  had  its  origin  in  lawless 


346  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  malignant  passion,  and  is  the  severest  calamity  with 
which  this  land  could  be  visited.  Seas,  rivers,  and  harbors 
are  blocked  up,  cities  are  depopulated,  fertile  regions  are 
condemned  to  eternal  desolation.  Mourning,  tears,  anguish, 
misery,  in  its  worst  form,  is  the  lot  of  a  vast  number  of  our 
people.  Those  who  have  immunity  are  blessed,  and  should 
be  grateful  to  God.  I  imagine,  that,  aside  from  the  evan 
escent  sensation  that  a  vivid  description  of  a  battle-scene 
gives,  few  think  of  the  soldier  in  the  field,  or  of  those  who 
sorrow  for  him  dead.  Part  of  the  country  is  dripping  with 
the  blood  of  heroes  slain,  part  is  given  up  to  feasting  and 
revelry,  at  Washington  the  glory  of  Babylon  has  come  again. 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"CAMP  KII,BY"  IN  THE  FIELD,  CHRISTMAS,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

You  will  understand  that  I  am  not  at  Vicksburg  ;  but  at  a 
point  between  the  Yazoo  and  Black  Rivers — a  wilderness 
utterly  desolate.  My  district  and  camps  extend  over  a  wide 
expanse  of  country.  I  am  complimented  by  a  large  com 
mand,  and  have  had  accession  of  five  regiments  of  cavalry 
and  a  battery  of  artillery,  an  increase  of  some  four  thousand 
men  to  report  to  me — quite  an  army  by  itself.  You  may  be 
sure  I  have  enough  to  do.  I  average  my  forty  miles  a  day 
on  horseback,  and  keep  my  three  good  horses  thoroughly 
exercised.  We,  of  course,  do  not  know  from  day  to  day 
what  our  movements  may  be  ;  always  waiting  orders.  But 
in  all  probability,  I  shall  stay  here  or  hereabouts  all  winter, 
varying  with  an  occasional  expedition  and  such  brushes  as 
I  may  be  able  to  coax  out  of  the  enemy,  the  main  body  of 
whom  is  about  sixty  miles  to  my  front,  and  who  keep  me 
amused  by  scouting  parties.  Meanwhile,  the  Senate  may 
take  it  into  their  wise  heads  to  reject  my  confirmation  when 
the  President  sends  my  name  in,  and  I  may  find  myself  re 
lieved. 


Letters  347 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"  CAMP  KII^BY"  IN  THE  FIEI<D,  January  i,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  HELEN  : 

The  weather  in  this  neck  of  woods  has  been  most  charm 
ing,  warm  and  balmy,  until  night  before  last,  when  after  a 
most  terrific  rainstorm,  the  full  benefit  of  which  your  brother 
received,  riding  that  day  forty  miles  or  more,  the  wind 
changed  to  the  north,  and  suddenly  there  came  a  flurry  of 
snow  followed  by  freezing  and  most  bitter  high  wind.  I 
never  felt  more  intense  cold  anywhere.  I  don't  know  the 
condition  of  the  thermometer,  but  everything  about  me  has 
been  frozen  up,  ink,  ale — everything  that  will  freeze —  and 
to-day,  although  the  sun  shone  bright,  there  was  no  sign  of 
thaw.  It  is  by  far  the  coldest  weather  I  have  experienced 
for  more  than  two  years.  It  is  exactly  a  year  ago  to-day 
since  we  withdrew  from  "  Chickasas  Bayou,"  within  six  or 
eight  miles  from  here  after  one  of  the  severest  contested 
battles  I  have  been  in.  I  little  thought  to  be  here,  that  day, 
now.  It  has  been  a  year  of  remarkable  events  to  our  country 
and  to  me. 

I  send  you  a  few  old  books  that  have  been  my  solace  in 
many  a  weary  hour  past ;  don't  scorn  them  because  they  are 
old.  "  Old  wine,  old  books,  old  friends,"  you  know — and 
each  one  of  them  I  send  you  has  a  legend  to  me,  associations 
that  make  it  dear,  and,  therefore,  for  my  sake,  you  will  keep 
them  as  a  little  more  precious,  giving  all  of  the  family  who 
wish  a  taste  of  their  contents,  for  they  all  have  intrinsic 
worth  ;  you  will  note  a  memorandum  in  some  from  whence 
they  came,  etc. 

For  a  whole  month  past  I  have  been  in  the  wilderness,  so 
I  can  write  you  no  stirring  story.  I  left  a  life  in  Natchez 
that  almost  realized  a  fairy  tale  ;  this  could  not  last  long, 
and  on  some  accounts  I  am  glad  it  is  over.  I  am  again  in 
the  front,  though  it  was  pleasant,  while  it  lasted,  to  sit  in 
' '  fayre  ladye's  bower. ' '  I  wonder  how  you  all  look  at  home. 


348  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

I  have  hoped  for  cartes,  but  I  suppose  it  would  be  expecting 
too  much  from  the  enterprise  of  the  family.  I  wonder  if  I 
shall  ever  again  see  any  of  you.  Almost  every  night  I 
dream  of  the  dead,  of  father,  and  Walter,  and  Charlie.  One 
or  two  nights  ago  my  dream  was  so  vivid.  I  thought  I  woke 
with  Walter's  hand  in  mine.  Can  it  be  that  the  dead  watch 
over  the  living,  and  come  to  us  in  dreams  ;  I  sometimes 
think  that  this  is  true,  and  that  for  every  friend  we  lose  on 
earth  we  gain  a  guardian  angel.  I  hope  our  dear  mother  is 
well  and  happy.  I  can  see  by  her  letter  that  in  my  children 
she  renews  her  youth.  She  has  had  many  and  sore  afflic 
tions,  but  bears  a  brave  heart.  You  must  all  do  everything 
in  your  power  to  smooth  her  pathway.  I  have  met  many 
women  in  my  experience  of  life — many  beautiful,  witty, 
sweet  and  lovely,  some  who  thought  they  loved  me — but 
never  any  woman  like  our  mother,  never  any  one  with  so 
many  graces  of  mind  and  body. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OE  THE  TENNESSEE, 
"  CAMP  KII,BY  "  IN  THE  EIEI<D,  January  9,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  AND  WIFE  : 

I  have  just  finished  packing  a  box  of  books,  old,  some  of 
them  well-worn,  and  all  of  them,  with  one  or  two  exceptions, 
have  given  me  solace.  You  will  find  stories  to  interest  the 
children  at  least,  mayhap  some  that  in  revision  will  interest 
you.  I  quite  envy  the  pleasure  you  will,  I  think,  have 
about  the  fireside  in  the  perusal  of  the  old  stories.  John 
Randolph,  in  one  of  his  letters,  says,  "  Indeed,  I  have  some 
times  blamed  myself  for  not  cultivating  your  imagination, 
when  you  were  young.  It  is  a  dangerous  quality,  however, 
for  the  possessor.  But  if  from  my  life  were  to  be  taken  the 
pleasure  derived  from  that  faculty,  very  little  would  remain. 
Shakspeare,  and  Milton,  and  Chaucer,  and  Spencer,  and 
Plutarch,  and  the  Arabian  Nights  Entertainments,  and  Don 
Quixote,  and  Gil  Bias,  and  Tom  Jones,  and  Gulliver,  and 


Letters  349 

Robinson  Crusoe,  and  the  tale  of  Troy  divine,  have  made  up 
more  than  half  my  worldly  enjoyments."  I  sympathize  and 
agree  with  what  he  says.  Everyone  of  those  books  is  dear 
to  me  now.  I  got  the  second  volume  of  Tom  Jones  by  acci 
dent  the  other  day,  and  devoured  the  whole  of  it  at  a  sitting. 
So  I  would  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  I  have  never  ceased  to  re 
gret  the  loss  of  my  first  copy  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  which 
someone  of  the  .  .  .  family  borrowed  and  forgot  to 
return. 

You  remember  Uncle  Jones  made  me  a  Christmas  present 
of  it,  the  first  copy  I  ever  saw  and  I  incontinently  devoured 
it,  lying  on  my  belly  in  front  of  the  chamber  fire  at  the  im 
mortal  ' '  Saunders  and  Beaches, ' '  while  they  took  turns  read 
ing  French  to  you  downstairs.  The  sensations  produced 
upon  me  then  by  that  book  are  vivid  with  me  now. 
Still  imagination  "  is  a  dangerous  quality  for  the  pos 
sessor."  Certainly,  there  is  no  pleasure  so  lasting,  none 
to  which  we  can  so  frequently  revert  and  with  so  little 
danger  of  satiety;  but  a  fine  mind  may  be  given  up  en 
tirely  to  the  pleasures  of  fiction,  and  by  too  free  indul 
gence  be  enervated  for  profitable  labor.  Upon  retrospection, 
I  am  satisfied  that  this  was  the  case  with  myself.  I  read 
hugely,  enormously,  for  a  boy  ;  more  before  I  had  reached 
my  teens  than  many  tolerably  educated  men  in  their  lives. 
My  reading  ruined  me  for  everything  else  except  belles  lettres 
and  the  classics.  "  Belles  lettres  and  the  classics"  will  do 
for  the  amusement  of  the  fortunate  recipient  of  hereditary 
wealth,  but  will  hardly  answer  to  get  a  living  out  of.  There 
fore,  be  a  little  cautious  with  the  novels  and  the  tales  ;  they 
are  all  alike.  Is  there  any  chance  for  the  Latin  ?  I  hope 
reasonable  effort  will  be  made  in  this  behalf.  You  will  be 
surprised  at  the  change  it  will  effect,  the  facilities  it  will  give 
the  learners  in  whatever  else  they  are  striving  to  acquire. 

In  respect  to  my  camp,  I  am  in  what  may  be  called  a 
howling  wilderness,  deserted  by  all  save  prowling  guerillas 
and  my  own  soldiers.  My  regiments  are  scattered  along  a 
chain  of  bluffs,  desolate  and  cheerless— this  winter  unusually 
bleak  and  cold.  They  are  in  tents  or  rude  log  huts.  Timber  is 


350  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

scarce,  and  water  that  is  fit  to  drink,  hard  to  get.  The  roads 
are  so  cut  up  as  to  be  almost  impassable.  I  am  companion- 
less,  solitary ;  so  far  as  interchange  of  sentiment  is  concerned, 
entirely  alone.  ...  I  make  raids  to  the  front  in  search 
of  guerillas,  and  for  forage  and  cattle,  riding  far  and  return 
ing  fast  to  my  stronghold,  sometimes  imagining  myself  a 
Scottish  chief,  and  living  very  much  as  the  Scottish  chiefs 
are  described  to  have  lived.  I  wish  I  had  a  Scott  beside  me 
now  and  then,  to  sing  my  lay.  Where,  or  when,  this  life 
will  end,  I  cannot  say  ;  I  have  no  prescience  of  orders.  I 
think  we  wait  the  action  of  Congress.  We  can't  soon  move 
far  on  account  of  the  roads.  Still,  my  camp  life  does  not, 
with  me,  contrast  disagreeably  with  the  life  I  led  at  Natchez, 
Sudden  change,  rapid  transition,  is  familiar  to  the  soldier, 
who  must  learn  to  accommodate  himself  to  camp  or  court. 
So  long  as  my  health  is  spared,  I  can  contrive  to  be  happy 
after  a  fashion  under  almost  any  circumstances.  ' '  My  mind 
to  me  a  kingdom  is. ' ' 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 

FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

DEPARTMENT  OE  THE  TENNESSEE, 

IN  THE  FIEI<D,  January  18,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

Here  I  find  myself  isole,  and  until  further  orders  must  so 
remain.  The  government  of  the  army  is  strictly  monarchi 
cal,  almost  a  pure  despotism.  An  eminent  English  jurist 
asserts  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  martial  law,  or  in  other 
words,  that  martial  law  may  be  defined  to  be  the  will  of  the 
general  in  command.  A  true  soldier,  the  instant  he  enlists 
or  accepts  a  commission,  surrenders  all  freedom  of  action, 
almost  all  freedom  of  thought.  Every  personal  feeling  is 
superseded  by  the  interests  of  the  cause  to  which  he  devotes 
himself.  He  goes  wherever  ordered,  he  performs  whatever 
he  is  commanded,  he  suffers  whatever  he  is  enjoined  ;  he  be 
comes  a  mere  passive  instrument  for  the  most  part  incapable 
of  resistance.  The  graduation  of  ranks  is  only  a  graduation 
in  slavery.  I  desire  to  become  a  good  and  practical  soldier 


Letters  351 

and  strategist,  one  whose  labor  and  conduct  no  enemy  will 
ever  laugh  at  in  battle,  no  friend  ever  find  insufficient,  as 
such,  to  serve  my  country  so  long  as  she  may  need  my  ser 
vices  or  until  they  cease  to  be  valuable. 

As  for  this  country  I  am  in,  I  feel  perfectly  incapable  of 
conveying  an  adequate  idea  of  the  dreary  lonely  nakedness 
that  surrounds  me.  The  curse  of  Babylon  has  fallen  upon 
it.  It  is  "  a  desolation,  a  dry  land  and  a  wilderness."  I 
have  in  former  letters  adverted  to  the  peculiar  geological 
formation  of  the  chain  of  bluffs  upon  a  portion  of  which  I 
am  now  encamped.  The  chain  is  about  three  hundred  miles 
in  length,  always  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  as 
some  geologist  asserts  has  been  blown  up,  formed  like  snow 
drifts  by  the  action  of  the  wind  in  former  ages.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  face  of  the  country  upon  them  has  very  much  the 
appearance  of  a  succession  of  snow-drifts  upon  which  a  sud 
den  thaw  has  begun  to  act.  The  top  soil  has  no  tenacity, 
although  fertile,  and  when  broken  for  cultivation,  yields  like 
sugar  or  salt  to  the  action  of  the  elements.  The  country7  is 
not  undulating  but  broken  in  precipitous  hills  ;  deep  ravines, 
gorges,  and  defiles  mark  the  ways.  Upon  the  hillsides  not 
too  steep  for  the  passage  of  the  plough,  where  have  been  the 
old  cotton-fields,  the  land  lies  in  hillocks,  resembling  newly- 
made  graves.  And  as  the  area  upon  which  the  great  staple 
could  be  produced  is  extensive,  one  may  ride  for  many 
miles  over  what,  with  little  stretch  of  imagination,  may  be 
considered  an  immense  graveyard.  To  add  to  the  gloom 
and  desolation,  are  the  charred  remains  of  burned  dwellings, 
cotton  sheds  and  cotton-gin  houses,  gardens  and  peach 
orchards  laid  open  and  waste,  negro  quarters  unroofed,  long 
lines  of  earthworks  and  fortifications,  trenches  and  rifle-pits, 
traversing  roadways,  cutting  in  their  passage  hamlet  or  dwell 
ing,  plantation  and  wilderness.  Huge  flocks  of  buzzards, 
ravens  and  carrion  crows,  continually  wheel,  circle,  and 
hover  over  the  war-worn  land.  The  bleaching  bones  of 
many  a  mule  and  horse  show  where  they  have  held  high 
carnival,  and  for  them  much  dainty  picking  still  remains,  as 
the  spring  rains  wash  off  the  scanty  covering  of  the  soldiers 


352  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

who  have  gone  to  rest  along  the  banks  of  the  Yazoo.  The 
patriot  veteran  who  packs  an  ' l  Enfield  "  is  as  a  general  rule 
superficially  buried  in  his  blanket,  if  he  falls  in  battle,  on 
the  spot  where  he  falls,  unless,  wounded,  he  crawls  to  a 
sheltered  nook  to  find  a  grave — happy,  then,  if  he  's  buried 
at  all.  Many  a  corpse  I  've  seen  swelled  up  and  black,  with 
its  eyes  picked  out,  which,  while  it  was  a  man,  had  dragged 
itself  for  shelter  and  out  of  sight,  and  been  overlooked  by 
the  burial  fatigues.  This,  as  father  used  to  say,  is  a  digres 
sion.  Off  from  the  cultivated  lands  are  canebrakes,  dense 
jungles  of  fishing  poles  of  all  sizes.  The  little  reed  of  which 
they  make  pipe  stems  that  grows  as  thick  on  the  ground  as 
wheat  stalks  in  a  field,  and  the  great  pole  thirty  feet  high 
and  as  thick  as  your  wrist.  Occasional  forests,  and  there 
some  of  the  trees  are  majestic  and  beautiful  ;  not  a  few 
of  them  evergreen,  one,  the  name  of  which  I  cannot  get, 
with  a  bright  green  spiked  leaf  bearing  a  beautiful  bright 
red  berry,  grows  large  and  branching  and  shows  finely. 
The  magnolia  is  evergreen.  I  send  specimens  of  both  in  the 
box,  though  I  fear  they  will  wither  before  they  will  reach 
you  ;  also  some  of  the  moss  that  attaches  itself  to  every  tree 
that  grows,  and  some  that  don't,  or  rather,  has  done  grow 
ing  and  are  dead.  Through  this  country  I  have  penetrated 
in  all  directions  where  there  are  roadways  and  where  there 
are  none,  and  sometimes  have  had  a  high  old  time  in  finding 
my  way.  The  better  portion  of  the  inhabitants  have  aban 
doned — some  refugees  at  the  North,  some  in  the  rebel  army, 
some  fled  to  Georgia  and  Alabama,  the  few  that  remain  are 
the  poorest  sort  of  white  trash.  This  element,  as  a  general 
rule,  is  Union  in  sentiment.  They  possess  strange  character 
istics  common  to  the  class  wherever  I  have  met  them  in 
Tennessee,  Arkansas,  or  Mississippi,  but  not  in  Louisiana. 
They  are  ignorant,  and  rather  dirty,  I  mean  uncleanly,  in 
their  habits,  always  miserably  poor  and  miserably  clad,  and 
yet,  the  women  especially,  possessed  of  a  certain  unaccount 
able  refinement  and  gentleness  almost  approaching  gentility. 
The  children  are  pretty,  even  with  the  unkempt  head  and 
grimy  features.  Men  and  women  always  have  delicate 
hands  and  feet,  the  high  instep  and  Arab  arch  is  the  general 


Letters  353 

rule.  There  's  blood  somewhere  run  to  seed.  There  is 
great  suffering  among  the  people  of  all  classes,  and  the  end 
is  not  yet.  I  enclose  you  one  or  two  intercepted  letters. 

In  the  jungles  and  canebreaks  and  the  thickets  of  the 
forest  there  are  many  cattle  and  hogs  running  wild  ;  some 
are  Texas  cattle  that  have  escaped  from  the  droves  of  the 
rebels  while  they  were  in  occupation  ;  some  have  escaped 
from  our  own  droves  ;  some  have  belonged  to  the  planters, 
and  have  been  run  off  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands 
of  either  party,  and  so  long  have  they  been  neglected  that  at 
last  they  have  become  wild,  almost  like  buffalo,  or  elk,  and 
run  like  the  devil  at  the  sight  of  man  on  foot  or  horseback. 
These  animals  we  sometimes  circumvent,  and  I  make  up  ex 
peditions  for  that  purpose,  taking  out  wagon-trains,  shooting 
and  butchering  the  beef  and  pork,  and  hauling  it  in  dead. 
The  wildness  of  the  animals  gives  these  forays  the  excite 
ment  of  grand  battles  and  hunts.  The  meat  is  excellent, 
and  my  mess  table  since  I  have  been  here  well  supplied. 
Thrice  since  I  have  been  here  I  have  journeyed  to  head 
quarters  at  Vicksburg,  and  twice  have  been  visited  by  the 
general  commanding,  McPherson  ;  with  these  intervals,  I 
have  been  without  companionship.  In  the  evenings  I  sit 
quite  alone,  except  I  have  a  terrier  puppy  I  brought  with 
me  from  Natchez,  who  seems  disposed  to  become  social. 
Last  winter  at  Young's  Point,  and  indeed  ever  since  I  have 
been  in  the  field  till  now,  I  have  been  most  fortunate  in 
social  commune.  General  Sherman  has  been  a  host  to  me, 
and  while  he  was  within  ten  miles  I  was  never  at  a  loss  for 
somebody  to  talk  to.  General  Stuart  was  a  very  fascinating 
man,  and  I  have  never  been  very  far  away  from  General 
Grant  and  staff.  But  now  I  am  quite  alone,  and  for  two 
months  have  hardly  heard  the  sound  of  a  woman's  voice. 
My  horses  are  a  great  comfort  to  me,  and,  thank  God,  are 
all  well  ;  I  am  much  blessed  in  horseflesh.  Captain  is  gay 
as  a  lark  ;  no  better  little  horse  ever  trod  on  iron.  He  's  as 
game  to-day  as  a  little  peacock.  My  other  horses  you  never 
saw.  They  are  superb  and  sublime.  Bell  is  confessedly  the 
finest  horse  in  the  army,  East  or  West.  J.  L.  is  well  and 


354  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

growing.  He  starts  to-morrow  morning  at  three  o'clock 
upon  an  expedition  to  the  Yazoo  River  to  give  battle  to 
some  wild  ducks.  I  have  no  faith  in  the  expedition. 

My  command  of  infantry  will  all  re-enlist  as  veterans  ;  the 
major  part  of  my  cavalry.  General  Sherman,  I  learn  to-day 
by  telegraph  from  Vicksburg,  was  there  for  a  short  time. 
I  did  not  see  him.  I  have  a  telegraph  office  and  operator  for 
my  own  use,  and  am  in  communication  with  Vicksburg  and 
the  other  headquarters  over  a  considerable  extent  of  country. 
I  can  tell  you  nothing  further  that  I  think  would  interest 
you  concerning  my  inner  life  here,  so  far  away  for  the  time 
being,  and  for  certain  purposes  I  am  an  independent  chief 
tain  leading  a  wild  enough  life.  "  No  one  to  love,  none  to 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 
FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

HEBRON,  Miss.,  Feb.  2,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

We  broke  camp  yesterday  and  are  now  on  the  march. 


CAMP  ON  PEARI,  RIVER,  TEN  MII.ES  S.  \V.  OF 
CANTON,  MISSISSIPPI,  February  27,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  opportunity  to  send  a  single  line  to  assure  you  that 
I  am  safe  and  well.  A  glance  at  the  map  of  Mississippi  will 
give  you  our  line  of  march  and  present  location.  The  rail 
way  is  marked  from  Vicksburg  due  east  through  Warren, 
Hinds,  Rankin,  Scott,  Newton,  Lauderdale,  and  Clark 
Counties,  to  the  extreme  western  border  of  the  State.  My 
command  has  been  to  Enterprise  and  Quitman.  I  am  now 
on  Pearl  River  in  Madison  County,  near  Madisonville,  within 
about  seventy  (70)  miles  of  Vicksburg.  Fire,  havoc,  deso 
lation,  and  ruin  have  marked  our  course.  The  blow  has 
been  terrible,  crushing.  The  enemy  have  fled  before  us  like 
frightened  deer.  The  whole  railway  system  of  the  State  is 
broken  up.  The  railway  I  have  indicated  shows  our  path- 


Letters  355 

way  through  the  State.     We  have  not  yet  heard  from  our 
cavalry. 

My  health  is  excellent,  my  horses  have  stood  the  journey 
well  and  the  troops  of  my  command  are  all  well  and  in  fine 
spirits.  To-day  is  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  march  ;  we 
have  covered  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE, 

FOURTH  Div.,  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

CAMP  HEBRON,  Miss.,  March  5,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  only  time  to  write  a  single  line  giving  the  assurance 
of  my  personal  safety  and  the  crossing  of  my  command  over 
Black  River,  with  but  few  casualties,  after  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  marches  known  to  modern  warfare.  The 
particulars  I  will  give  you  as  leisure  serves  hereafter. 


HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  Div.,  RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION, 

DETACHMENT  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

ViCKSBURG,  MiSS.,  March  9,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  have  promised  myself  the  pleasure  of  writing  you  a  long 
letter,  in  which  I  should  essay  some  attempt  at  description 
of  the  expedition  from  which  we  have  just  returned  ;  but 
scarcely  have  I  taken  a  long  breath  ere  I  find  myself  ordered 
upon  active  and  increasing  service.  I  am  highly  compli 
mented  by  my  commanding  generals,  and  promoted  to  the 
command  of  a  division  composed  of  picked  men  and  the  very 
flower  of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  with  instant  orders 
to  embark  for  the  Red  River.  I  shall  probably  report  to 
General  Banks  and  my  destination  is  still  South.  My  trust 
is  delicate  and  highly  responsible,  my  command  magnificent. 
No  hope  of  home  or  furlough  this  summer.  I  had  a  vague 
and  latent  hope  that  having  served  so  long  and  as  I  believe 
so  faithfully,  that  opportunity  might  offer  for  at  least  the 
preferring  of  a  request  for  leave  ;  but  I  never  yet  in  this  war 


356  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

have  seen  the  time  that  I  could  ask  a  furlough,  being  always 
on  the  march  or  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy. 

Enclosed  please  find  the  rough  notes  most  hastily  thrown 
together  from  which  was  blocked  out  the  official  report  of 
the  expedition.  It  is  doubtful  whether  you  can  decipher 
or  make  sense  of  them — certainly  more  than  I  can  do.  It 
is  all  I  have  time  to  offer  you,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  map 
it  may  serve  as  some  guide.  We  traversed  the  entire  State 
of  Mississippi  from  the  river  to  the  border  due  east,  driving 
the  enemy  at  all  points.  Completely  destroyed  the  railway 
system  of  the  State  and  returned  leisurely,  living  for  the 
most  part  upon  the  country.  It  may  chance  that  I  have  op 
portunity  to  write  you  from  the  transports,  in  which  case  be 
sure  you  shall  hear  from  me.  Give  your  earnest  prayers  for 
the  success  of  this  expedition.  It  may  be  the  turning-point 
of  my  military  career.  I  am  standing  now  on  a  dizzy  height, 
lofty  enough  to  make  a  cool  head  swim.  I  feel  the  power 
within  me  to  rise  to  the  occasion.  Confidence  is  half  the 
battle,  but  all  is  with  God. 

I  have  met  General  Sherman  frequently  upon  the  march, 
and  to-day  saw  him  for  a  little  while.  He  is  the  man  for 
the  Southwest.  The  expression  is  trite,  but  he  is  the  Na 
poleon  of  the  war.  In  time  to  come  you  will  revert  to  some 
of  my  former  letters  and  believe  that  I  have  written  with  a 
prophetic  pen. 

My  sword  sash  and  belt  have  at  last  arrived,  most  costly 
and  elegant.  Said,  aside  from  the  jewels,  to  be  more  elegant 
than  the  one  presented  to  General  Grant.  I  wish  it  was  at 
home  to  place  among  the  archives.  Much  too  valuable  for 
field  service.  There  are  two  sashes,  Russia  leather  belt  and 
gold  sword-knot,  all  enclosed  in  rosewood  box,  lined  with 
white  satin  and  blue  velvet. 

There  will  be  a  General  A.  J.  Smith  in  this  command, 
with  whom  I  will  be  confounded  continually.  He  is  my 
superior  officer,  an  old  man,  and  an  old  regular  army  soldier 
graduate  of  West  Point.  I  have  been  with  him  in  battle  on 
three  occasions.  He  is  gallant. 


Letters  357 

HEADQUARTERS  Div.  SEVENTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

RED  RIVER  EXPEDITION,  FORT  DE  RUSSEY, 
AVOYEI,I<ES  COUNTY,  LOUISIANA,  March  17,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

My  last  hurried  letter  to  you  was  dated  from  on  board  ship 
at  Vicksburg.  The  fleet  of  transports  under  my  command 
sailed  from  that  point  at  seven  o'clock,  Thursday,  loth  inst., 
arrived  at  mouth  of  Red  River  and  reported  to  Admiral 
Porter  on  Friday  at  noon.  At  10  A.M.,  Saturday,  sailed  up 
Red  River  and  Atchafalaya  under  orders  and  signals  from 
flagship  Black  Hawk,  to  Simmesport.  Morning  of  Sunday 
debarked  my  troops  for  inspection,  review  and  drill  by  regi 
ments.  At  seven  o'clock  P.M.,  received  marching  orders, 
and  at  8  P.M.  marched,  bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  column, 
repaired  bridges  through  the  night,  roads  for  greater  part  of 
the  way  bad  and  swampy  ;  bivouacked  at  4  A.M.,  Monday, 
eight  miles  from  Simmesport.  Meanwhile,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith, 
with  General  Mower's  command,  had  reconnoitred  the  front, 
driven  four  regiments  of  the  enemy  from  a  fortification,  situ 
ate  some  five  miles  from  Simmesport,  and  was  making  across 
country  for  Moreauville  on  Bayou  L'  Eglise.  Gave  my  troops 
rest  two  hours  ;  at  six  o'clock  took  up  the  line  of  march, 
moving  forward  rapidly  till  eleven  o'clock,  when  I  halted, 
ordered  coffee  for  the  men  and  fed  the  animals.  Meanwhile 
pioneers  were  reconstructing  bridge  destroyed  by  the  enemy. 
At  noon  resumed  march  which  till  this  time  had  led  us  for 
the  most  part  through  a  rich  and  highly-cultivated  country 
past  extensive  canefields  and  sugar-houses,  now  crossing  a 
bayou  and  penetrating  a  swamp  spreading  some  few  miles  be 
fore  us.  Ascending  a  slight  elevation,  we  suddenly  emerged 
in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  prairies  imaginable.  High  table 
land,  gently  undulating,  watered  by  exquisite  lakes  occasional 
groves,  the  landscape  dotted  with  tasteful  houses,  gardens 
and  shrubberies.  This  prairie,  called  Avoyelles,  is  settled 
exclusively  by  French  emigres,  many  of  whom,  as  our 
army  passed,  sought  shelter  under  the  tricolor  of  France. 
Pushing  forward  rapidly,  we  gained  Marksville  at  4.30  P.M. 
Deserters  had  warned  us  that  the  enemy  were  on  our  left 
flank  and  rear  as  early  as  three  o'clock.  My  troops  were 


358  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

well  closed  up.  Two  and  a  half  miles  beyond  Marksville,  I 
formed  line  of  battle  at  5.30,  my  right  resting  immediately 
on  the  left  of  the  advanced  forces.  My  transportation  and 
ambulances  parked  far  to  the  rear.  As  my  command  came 
to  front,  brisk  musketry  firing  commenced  at  the  fort.  Some 
shells  fell  to  the  rear  and  right  of  my  line.  I  was  ordered 
by  the  general  commanding  to  look  well  to  my  rear  and  left 
wing,  that  I  might  anticipate  attack  from  General  Walker 
with  six  thousand  Texans.  I  stood  to  arms.  At  6.30  news 
was  brought  me  that  the  fort  had  surrendered.  I  threw  out 
heavy  pickets,  stacked  arms  and  went  into  bivouac,  a  pierc 
ing  cold  "  Norther  "  sweeping  over  the  plain.  In  summary, 
I  remark  that  the  command  on  the  i4th  inst.,  marched 
twenty-eight  and  a  half  miles,  built  a  substantial  bridge  of 
sixty  feet  in  length,  repaired  minor  ones,  and  took  a  fort 
between  sunrise  and  sunset.  But  one  brigade,  Colonel 
Ward,  commanding,  was  actively  engaged  ;  their  casualties 
nine  killed,  thirty-seven  wounded.  The  substantial  results  I 
enclose  in  memorandum  of  ordnance  and  ordnance  stores, 
to  which  may  be  added  a  large  amount  of  commissary  stores, 
flour,  beef,  sugar  and  molasses,  and  three  hundred  and 
thirty-four  prisoners,  thirty-four  of  whom  were  officers  from 
lieutenant-colonel  to  third  lieutenant. 

Meanwhile,  convoy  and  fleet  had  made  slow  and  devious 
way  through  the  tortuous  windings  of  Red  River,  where 
navigation  at  present  stage  of  water  is  difficult.  Rapid  cur 
rent,  frequent  eddies,  sharp  bends  and  snags,  are  the  natural 
obstacles  ;  to  these  the  enemy  added  rafts  and  spiles  ;  never 
theless,  as  the  fort  surrendered,  the  Black  Hawk  rounded  to 
land  shortly  afterwards  the  general  commanding  received  the 
congratulations  of  the  Admiral,  whom  he  will  compliment 
by  present  of  the  nine-inch  Dahlgren,  of  the  Indianola,  and 
the  two  heavy  guns  of  the  Harriet  Lane,  recaptured.  My 
command  is  in  occupation  of  the  fort,  and  will  be  engaged 
to-day  and  to-morrow  in  the  demolition  of  the  casemates, 
bridges,  etc. ,  etc. ,  and  finally  the  blowing-up  of  the  maga 
zines,  in  which  we  shall  permit  to  be  destroyed  vast  quantities 
of  powder.  The  main  body  under  command  of  General 
Mower,  convoyed  by  Admiral  Porter,  sailed  last  night  for 


Letters  359 

Alexandria,  where  I  expect  to  join  them  in  three  days. 
Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  remains  with  me,  and  gunboats  Essex  and 
Benton,  Captains  Grier  and  Townsend. 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  give  you  my  present  locality 
without  the  aid  of  sketch  ;  but  I  will  enclose  herewith  draft 
and  dimensions  of  fortifications  that  you  may  intelligently 
answer  questions  ;  to  which  end,  indeed,  I  have  written  you 
a  sort  of  condensed  report.  If  you  have  not  "  Col  ton 's  " 
maps,  you  had  better  buy  first  volume,  North  and  South 
America  ;  meanwhile  you  can  borrow  and  trace  me  down 
the  Mississippi,  up  the  Atchafalaya,  pronounced  ' '  Chafalia, ' ' 
to  Simmesport,  across  country  to  Marksville,  from  thence  to 
Fort  De  Russy,  on  the  Red,  thence  up  the  river  to  Alex 
andria. 

Thursday,  i8th  March,  on  board  steamer  Hastings,  Red 
River. 

I  resume,  having  no  opportunity  as  yet  to  forward  de 
spatches.  Having  destroyed  fort  and  blown  up  magazines, 
am  now  en  route  for  Alexandria.  Weather  most  charming, 
river  winding  through  fertile,  productive  country.  I  find 
it  impossible  to  write,  however,  with  any  comfort,  the  ma 
chinery  going;  shall  close  at  Alexandria. 

Arrived  at  Alexandria  at  this  6  P.M.,  after  a  pleasant 
passage  without  incidents  ;  discover  upon  our  arrival  that 
the  enemy,  some  fifteen  thousand  strong,  have  evacuated, 
leaving  three  field-pieces  and  an  immense  amount  of  com 
missary  stores,  cotton,  sugar  and  molasses.  My  fleet  is 
moored  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  opposite  the  town,  and 
I  have  debarked  my  troops,  throwing  out  heavy  pickets,  my 
scouts  informing  me  that  two  thousand  of  the  enemy's  cav 
alry  are  in  my  front,  and  propose  to  make  a  dash  this  night, 
a  threat  I  don't  believe,  but  am  ready  for  their  reception. 
Have  received  a  despatch  within  a  few  moments,  stating 
that  General  Lee,  of  General  Banks' s  command,  was  at 
Opelousas,  on  the  i6th,  with  five  thousand  cavalry,  and  that 
General  Banks,  with  fifteen  thousand  infantry,  was  on  the 
march.  We  are  ahead  of  Banks  some  five  days.  I  am  jot 
ting  down  incidents  as  a  sort  of  diary ;  hardly  know  whether 
it  will  ever  reach  your  eye. 


360  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

You  must  be  careful  to  trace  me  properly  on  the  map. 
The  children  will  not  be  set  back  in  their  geography  by  fol 
lowing  their  father's  footsteps  in  imagination.  I  wish  I  had 
you  all  here  this  night.  I  have  just  been  ashore  inspecting 
my  troops,  and  rarely  has  the  mellow  moonlight  fallen  upon 
a  more  romantic  scene.  The  plain  is  level,  covered  with, 
grassy  sod,  and  studded  with  clumps  of  underbrush,  of  a 
growth  that  at  night  I  can  not  distinguish;  there  is  ample 
room  to  move  about  and  sufficient  verge  for  line  of  battle. 
The  bright  arms  glittering  in  the  moonlight  are  stacked 
upon  the  color  line,  the  soldiers  lie,  each  covered  with  his 
blanket,  behind  their  arms;  there  are  no  camp-fires  ;  the 
videttes,  far  in  advance,  can  be  distinguished,  dismounted, 
but  each  man  at  his  horse's  head  and  ready  at  the  blast  of  the 
bugle  to  mount;  the  moon  is  clear  and  the  stars  all  out,  the 
atmosphere  serene.  The  gunboats  lie  far  above  and  below, 
the  transports  between.  One  can  scarcely  look  without  a 
yearning  for  the  power  of  word-painting  to  convey  a  portion 
of  his  pleasure,  as  well  as  regret  that  all  the  world,  at  least 
his  friends  in  it,  cannot  share  his  feelings.  There  is  a  pe 
culiar  fascination  in  this  wild,  dangerous  life,  a  continued 
exaltation  and  exultation  ;  mine  have  been  the  joys  of  victor, 
continuous  and  continued.  I  have  never  known  defeat  ; 
onward  and  onward,  victory  after  victory,  casting  behind 
me,  as  my  horse  throws  dust,  clouds  of  prisoners.  Three 
hundred  and  thirty-four  brave  men  I  sent  down  under  charge 
of  one  of  my  lieutenant-colonels  yesterday.  This  must 
change,  sometime,  doubtless.  I  ma}7  be  called  to-morrow, 
to  captivity  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  God  give  me  strength 
to  bear,  if  the  evil  day  comes.  I  write  wildly  and  hurriedly 
to-night.  To-morrow,  perhaps,  I  shall  have  leisure  to  give 
you  something  like  a  home  letter.  Did  I  say  I  wish  you 
were  here  ?  God  forbid,  except  that  you  might  be  trans 
lated  straightway  back. 

Friday,  March  igth.  A  messenger  has  just  arrived  with 
despatches  from  below,  and  a  mail,  but  no  letters  for  me.  I 
have  nothing  of  importance  to  add,  hardly  enough  in  what  I 
have  written  to  repay  perusal  ;  you  must  not  permit  yourself 
to  suffer  anxiety  on  my  account  ;  the  good  God  whose  arm 


Letters  361 

till  now  has  shielded  me  will  care  for  me  to  the  end.  It  may 
be  permitted  us  to  meet  again  and  again  I  may  enjoy  the 
pleasure  of  home.  If  not,  let  us  all  pray  that  we  meet  in 
Paradise. 

I  see  by  some  newspapers  that  are  brought  with  this  mail 
that  the  expedition  into  Mississippi  is  misrepresented  and 
misunderstood.  I  assure  you  it  was  entirely  successful  and 
all  was  accomplished  that  was  intended  or  desired. 


ALEXANDRIA,  LA.,  March  24,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 


We  have  had  some  skirmishing  in  making  reconnaissance, 
and  have  taken  one  entire  battery,  horses  and  harness. 
Some  four  hundred  prisoners  and  some  six  hundred  horses. 
General  Banks  has  not  yet  arrived,  but  is  momentarily  ex 
pected.  The  country  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  is  pine 
woods  and  for  the  most  part  barren,  though  rolling  and 
beautiful  on  the  south  side — that  upon  which  Alexandria  is 
situated.  It  is  exceedingly  rich  and  very  highly  cultivated 
in  cotton  and  sugar  plantations.  Corn,  clover,  and  other 
grasses  grow,  the  clover  especially,  with  wonderful  luxuri 
ance.  The  perfectly  flat  nature  of  the  country  gives  a  same 
ness  that  is  wearisome,  but  at  first  view  the  beauty  of  the 
plain,  as  one  rides  through  the  plantations,  is  enchanting. 
Hereabouts  they  are  all  well-watered  by  the  bayous  and 
these  can  be  led  by  ditching  in  any  direction.  The  planters, 
taking  advantage  of  this,  have  beautified  their  grounds  with 
lakes  and  wandering  streams,  upon  the  shores  of  which 
to  the  water's  edge  grows  the  white  clover,  carpeting  the 
ground  at  this  season  with  its  rich  green  leaves,  the  sod  cut 
away  for  parterres  and  flowerbeds,  all  shaded  with  beautiful 
pines,  Japan  plums,  pride  of  China,  and  others,  the  names 
of  which  you  would  not  recognize,  of  the  beauty  of  which  you 
can  hardly  form  an  idea.  Their  houses  are  not  very  elegant. 
The  Southerner  as  a  general  rule  does  not  care  much  about 
his  house  ;  so  that  it  has  plenty  of  piazza,  (gallery,  as  they 
call  it  here),  is  painted  white,  with  Venetian  blinds  at  all 


362  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  openings,  he  is  satisfied.  Some  of  the  wealthiest  of  them 
have  spent  their  lives  in  log  houses,  and  the  wigwam  at 
Mackacheek  would  be  entirely  en  regie  as  the  mansion  house 
of  a  sugar  estate.  They  find  all  their  enjoyment  in  the  open 
air,  and  shelter  from  the  rain  and  night  dew  is  all  they  ask. 

The  inhabitants  hereabouts  are  pretty  tolerably  frightened  ; 
our  Western  troops  are  tired  of  shilly  shally,  and  this  year 
will  deal  their  blows  very  heavily.  Past  kindness  and  for 
bearance  has  not  been  appreciated  or  understood  ;  frequently 
ridiculed.  The  people  now  will  be  terribly  scourged.  Quick, 
sharp,  decisive,  or,  if  not  decisive,  staggering  blows  will  soon 
show  them  that  we  mean  business.  I  anticipate,  however. 

The  State  of  Louisiana  founded  a  Seminary  of  Learning 
and  Military  Academy,  not  long  since,  of  which  General 
Sherman,  by  election,  was  made  superintendent,  and  which 
he  abandoned  to  take  up  arms  for  his  government.  The 
building  is  a  fine,  large,  very  expensive  one,  situate  some 
four  miles  from  Alexandria,  and  was  thoroughly  provided 
with  all  the  adjuncts  of  a  large  college.  It  has  recently  been 
used  as  a  hospital  by  the  rebels.  The  people  cherish  the 
name  of  General  Sherman,  and  mourn  his  loss.  He  had 
great  popularity  here.  My  newspaper  dates  are  to  the  i4th 
inst.  My  news  very  vague.  I  have  the  intelligence  of  the 
promotion  of  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  General  Sherman 
and  General  McPherson.  This  is  all  right.  With  the  old 
woman  I  may  say  to  you,  "  I  told  you  so."  One  year  ago 
there  was  a  fearful  pressure  made  against  all  these  officers, 
Grant  and  Sherman  especially.  Where  are  those,  now,  who 
villified  them  ?  I  do  not  know  if  you  preserve  them,  but  I 
must  ask,  if  you  do,  to  look  at  some  of  my  letters  written 
during  last  February  and  March. 

MISSISSIPPI  SQUADRON,  FLAG  SHIP  "CRICKET," 

ALEXANDRIA,  April  29,  1864. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  am  safe  after  a  most  severe  campaign.  I  had  three 
fights,  battles,  on  my  own  hook,  inasmuch  as  I  had  the 
honor  of  bringing  up  the  rear  of  the  army  to  this  point. 
These  three  fights  were  exclusively  my  own,  and  in  every 


Letters  363 

instance  entirely  victorious.  I  have  only  time  to  say  that 
my  opinion  is,  we  (I  mean  A.  J.  Smith's  command)  will  get 
through  safely  to  the  Mississippi  ;  after  that,  there  will  be 
work  enough  for  us.  I  will  give  you  full  details  so  soon  as 
opportunity  offers.  Meanwhile,  rest  assured  of  my  health 
and  personal  safety.  Admiral  Porter  is  safe  and  sitting  by 
my  side  as  I  write.  He  is  a  noble  fellow,  game  as  a  pheas 
ant;  so  is  old  A.  J.  a  perfect  trump. 

I  hope  you  are  all  well.  I  am  in  first  rate  spirits,  stiff 
upper  lip,  "  never  say  die."  Do  not  be  discouraged  about 
me  in  the  slightest  degree.  We  can  whip  these  fellows 
whenever  we  get  the  chance. 


STEAMER  "SILVER  MOON," 
MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,  NEAR  CAIRO,  ILI,,  June  9,  1864. 

I  am  on  my  way  home  and  may  reasonably  be  expected 
by  you  on  Monday,  i5th,  by  the  morning  up  train,  God 
willing  and  weather  permitting.  My  retinue  is  small,  as  I 
am  on  brief  furlough.  You  will  only  need  to  make  prepara 
tions  for  three  servants,  two  male,  one  female,  four  horses,  a 
small  dog  and  myself.  You  need  not  put  yourself  out,  as  the 
horses  and  servants  are  used  to  bivouac. 


QUINCY,  Sunday,  Oct.  24,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 


After  strange,  and  what  would  be  considered  in  any  other 
age,  romantic  vicissitudes,  I  find  myself  once  more  in  the 
land  of  my  birth,  with  the  same  surroundings,  changed  so 
little  as  to  be  a  marvel,  that  made  my  sum  of  childhood  life. 
I  have  had  for  years  an  earnest  longing  to  look  again  upon 
the  everlasting  hills,  the  eternal  rocks,  and  changing  seas 
of  this  New  England  coast,  and  being  so  near  could  not  re 
sist  the  temptation  to  gratify  my  desires.  I  am  glad  I  came, 
and  feel  much  benefited  in  health  and  spirits.  I  have  met 
most  of  our  kith  and  kinsfolk  who,  like  their  trees,  are  rooted 
in  the  soil. 


364  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

To-day,  thus  far,  I  rest ;  if  you  were  with  me  to  join  in  the 
calm  enjoyment,  the  serenity  of  happiness,  the  sweet  content 
of  this  glorious,  autumnly  sunny  Sunday,  that  is  mine,  here 
so  close  to  my  birthplace,  hallowed  to  you  by  so  many  recol 
lections,  I  should  be  supremely  blest,  "  to  sit  at  good  men's 
feasts,  to  hear  the  holy  bell  that  knolls  to  church, ' '  far  from 
war  and  war's  alarms,  the  bracing  breeze  rustling  the  leaves 
all  tinged  with  the  hectic  hues  of  autumn,  just  ready  to  fall, 
but  lingering,  clinging  to  the  swinging  bough,  giving  sweet 
music  as  to  the  wind  they  sing  their  parting  lay;  to  listen  to 
the  pattering  of  children's  feet  upon  the  bridge  where  my 
first  footsteps  ventured,  the  babbling  of  the  same  old  brook, 
here  confined  between  trim  borders,  there  in  its  freedom  mer 
rily  dancing  in  the  sunlight ;  to  wander  through  the  same  old 
rooms,  sit  in  the  same  old  chairs,  eat  from  the  same  old 
spoons,  hear  the  familiar  household  words  from  the  same  lips 
that  well-nigh  half  a  century  ago  gave  greeting.  Ah,  well- 
a-day,  you  and  I  are  growing  old,  dear  mother,  and  as  we 
drift  by  rapidly  upon  the  stream  of  time  we  clutch  convul 
sively  at  these  old  landmarks  and  for  a  while  would  fain 
stay  our  progress  onward  to  the  boundless  gulf  that  is  be 
yond.  We  cheat  ourselves  in  thought,  that  in  good  sooth 
we  do  linger,  while  even  all  else  is  passing  away,  that  while 
inanimate  objects,  that  from  associations  seem  self-identi 
fied,  remain  apparently  unchanged,  we,  by  mere  contact,  re 
juvenate  our  stay,  or  receive  the  virtues  of  the  waters  of 
lyethe.  Yet,  when  the  real  comes  back,  it  is  good  to  know 
that  in  imagination  we  have  triumphed  over  time,  that  in 
mere  enjoyment  of  imagination,  we  have  caught  some 
glimpse  of  the  glorious  immortality  yet  to  come. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
CITY  POINT,  VA.,  Nov.  16,  1864. 

I  write  not  to  give  interesting  intelligence,  but  simply  to 
advise  you  that  I  am  in  the  land  of  the  living,  at  City 
Point,  on  James  River,  that  waters  the  sacred  soil,  and  that 
I  am  about  as  far  to  the  front  on  my  way  to  Richmond  as  it 
is  this  day  safe  to  go. 


Letters  365 

The  James  reminds  me  a  good  deal  of  the  lower  Missis 
sippi,  and  so  far  as  I  have  come,  its  banks  are  studded  with 
points  of  interest,  and  historical  in  the  war.  At  Fort  Mon 
roe,  I  saw  the  finest  fleet  that,  perhaps,  has  ever  been  col 
lected  in  the  American  waters.  Leaving  Washington  in  a 
steamer  for  this  place,  I  passed  Alexandria,  Point  Look 
out,  Harrison's  Landing,  Newport  News,  Fort  Powhatan, 
Wilson's  Landing,  Jamestown  Island.  If  the  children  will 
look  at  the  map,  they  will  discover  that  we  descend  the 
Potomac,  scud  along  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  at  Fort  Monroe 
ascend  the  James,  so  that  they  can  get  upon  my  track. 
There  is  no  news  here  proper  for  me  to  write.  General 
Grant  is  in  good  health  and  spirits  and  I  hear  as  late  as  last 
Wednesday  from  Sherman,  who  also  is  well. 


HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
CITY  POINT,  Va.,  Nov.  18,  1864. 

I  wrote  a  hurried  note  to  wife  a  day  or  two  ago  upon 
my  first  arrival  at  General  Grant's  headquarters,  simply  to 
advise  you  all  of  my  health  and  well-being.  I  was  received 
here  with  open  arms,  unfeigned,  and  bounteous  hospitality. 
I  proposed  returning  with  the  General  the  day  after  my 
arrival,  as  he  was  about  paying  a  visit  to  his  wife  at  Bur 
lington,  but  he  pressed  me  to  remain  and  inspect  the  lines, 
for  that  purpose  mounting  me  on  his  own  best  horse  with 
his  own  equipments,  and  assigning  his  chief  aide-de-camp  as 
my  escort.  The  day 'before  yesterday  I  rode  the  lines  of 
the  ' '  Army  of  the  James. ' '  For  this  purpose  a  steamboat 
was  detailed  which  took  me  up  the  river  to  a  point  just 
above  the  famous  ' '  Dutch  gap ' '  canal,  where  the  extreme 
left  of  the  army  now  under  command  of  General  Butler  rests. 
Mounting  our  horses,  we  struck  the  field  works  at  this  point, 
and  rode  the  whole  circuit,  visiting  each  fort  en  route,  not 
forgetting  the  famous  "  Fort  Harrison,"  which  cost  us  so 
dearly  to  wrest  from  the  enemy;  we  were  frequently  in  sight 
and  within  rifle  range  of  the  enemy's  pickets,  indeed  at 
points  within  an  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  and  almost  with 


366  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  naked  eye  the  lineaments  of  their  countenances  could  be 
discerned  ;  but  we  were  not  fired  upon,  for  both  armies  on 
these  lines  decry  the  abominable  practice  of  picket  shooting, 
which  for  the  most  part  is  assassination,  save  when  works 
are  to  be  attempted  by  assault,  and,  relying  on  each  other's 
honor,  observe  a  sort  of  truce.  I  was  so  often  within  gun 
shot  of  them  this  day,  and  they  so  well  observed  the  tacit 
understanding,  that  I  did  not  dismount  as  is  usual  in  ex 
posed  places,  but  always  from  the  saddle  made  careful  survey 
of  their  works.  I  rode  as  close  as  three  miles  from  Rich 
mond,  whose  spires  could  be  discerned  glittering  in  the  hazy 
distance.  General  Butler  had  not  then  returned,  but  I  was 
glad  to  be  able  to  renew  with  my  old  friend  General  Weitzel 
then  in  command,  an  acquaintance  formed  at  Port  Hudson, 
which  ripened  into  intimacy  at  New  Orleans.  He  is  an  ele 
gant  fellow,  and  well  worthy  of  the  honors  he  enjoys.  You 
may  be  sure  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  and  that  he  did  all  one  sol 
dier  can  do  to  make  another  happy,  giving  me  his  personal 
escort  through  the  whole  day.  I  also  called  upon  General 
Terry,  also  in  command  of  a  corps,  and  two  or  three  brigadiers. 
Their  lines  of  fortifications  display  splendid  engineering,  their 
army  in  good  condition  and  spirits,  and  the  soldiers  in  first 
rate  fighting  trim.  The  enemy  lies  at  short  distance  like  a 
couchant  tiger  watching  for  the  expected  spring.  There  will 
be  desperate  fighting  when  we  close.  At  night  I  re-embarked 
and  returned  to  these  headquarters.  Yesterday  our  horses 
were  placed  upon  a  special  railroad  train  provided  for  the 
purpose,  and  after  breakfast  we  started  for  the  headquarters 
of  General  Meade,  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
At  "  Meade' s  Station  "  our  horses  were  unshipped  and  we 
mounted,  riding  a  short  distance  to  the  general's  tent.  He 
received  me  with  profound  respect  and  consideration,  ex 
cused  himself  upon  the  plea  of  urgent  business  from  giving 
me  personal  escort  over  the  lines,  but  assigned  his  chief  aide- 
de-camp,  Colonel  Riddle,  who  gave  me  guidance.  I  rode 
through  his  entire  army  of  sixty  thousand  infantry,  and  sur 
veyed  their  lines  of  fortifications,  in  close  view  of  the  lines 
of  the  enemy,  and  of  the  town  of  Petersburg.  It  would  be 
neither  proper  for  me,  nor  interesting  to  you,  to  give  close 


Letters  367 

description  of  all  I  saw  ;  suffice  it  to  say,  that  I  found  a 
splendidly  appointed  army  in  tip-top  condition,  behind 
works  that,  well-manned,  are  impregnable,  close  to  an 
enemy  who  are  watching  with  argus  eyes  and  making  de 
fences  with  the  arms  of  Briareus.  I  called  in  the  course  of 
the  day  upon  Major-Generals  Parke  and  Warren.  Parke  I 
knew  at  Vicksburg,  and  should  have  called  upon  Hancock, 
who  had  made  preparation  to  entertain  me,  but  the  night 
was  closing  in  murky  with  promise  of  storm,  and  I  felt  com 
pelled  to  hasten  to  the  depot.  Thus  in  these  two  days  I 
have  made  very  extensive  reconnaissance,  inspection  and 
survey  of  these  two  great  armies  upon  the  movements  of 
which  the  destiny  of  a  nation,  if  not  of  a  world,  seems  to 
rest.  An  incident  occurred  yesterday  that  may  serve  to  in 
terest  the  children.  We  often  were,  as  on  the  day  previous, 
very  close  to  the  picket  lines  and  fortifications  of  the  enemy, 
and  upon  one  occasion,  as  we  halted  to  make  close  observa 
tion  of  a  certain  point,  the  enemy  sent  over  a  dog  with  a  tag 
of  paper  attached  to  his  collar,  upon  which  was  written, 
"  Lincoln's  majority  36,000."  We  detached  the  paper, 
offered  the  dog  something  to  eat,  which  he  refused,  turned 
him  loose,  when  he  forthwith  returned  to  his  master.  Surely 
this  is  one  of  the  ' '  dogs  of  war. ' ' 

I  have  been  called  off  from  writing,  a  moment,  to  be  intro 
duced  to  General  Butler,  who  has  called,  and  who  invites  me 
to  dine  with  him  to-morrow.  If  the  day  is  not  very  stormy 
I  shall  go  to  his  headquarters. 


At  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  Baltimore, 
Washington,  I  have  been  really  oppressed,  overwhelmed, 
with  polite  attentions.  In  the  War  Department,  every 
officer  I  met,  the  Secretary,  the  Adjutant- General,  the 
Assistant,  were  eager  to  give  facilities.  So  at  the  Treasury, 
where  I  had  occasion  to  transact  some  business.  The  Post 
master-General,  our  Mr.  Dennison,  promptly  offered  me 
every  politeness,  and  here  at  these  headquarters,  from  the 
General-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States  down, 
all  have  done  me,  and  all  have  seemed  eager  to  do  me  honor. 


368  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

I  am  informed  that  none  others  save  the  General,  since  he 
has  come  into  his  possession,  has  ridden  or  been  offered  his 
favorite  horse,  a  magnificent  animal,  which,  caparisoned 
with  his  own  splendid  housings,  he  ordered  for  me,  and  has 
left  subject  to  my  order  while  I  remain.  His  Chief  of  Staff 
offered  me  the  General's  tent  and  bed  during  his  absence  ; 
this  I  refused.  I  am  the  honored  guest  at  the  long  mess- 
table.  Well  these  are  trifles  in  themselves,  but  taken  to 
gether  are  gratifying  to  me  and  will  doubtless  be  to  you.  I 
am  very  proud  to  have  the  good  opinion  of  my  commanding 
generals.  I  believe  I  mentioned  to  you  in  a  former  letter 
that  I  had  introduced  myself  to  the  President,  who  was 
pleased  to  say  he  had  heard  of  me,  and  who,  in  our  inter 
view,  was  exceedingly  polite.  Of  course,  I  take  all  this  just 
for  what  it  is  worth,  and  nothing  more,  and  should  be  mean 
to  attempt  self-glorification  upon  the  reception  of  courtesy 
that  costs  so  little.  But  I  am  writing  to  my  mother,  and  to 
her  I  cannot  refrain  some  hints  of  my  position  towards  those 
who  are  now  most  prominent  in  the  world's  history,  and  who 
give  countenance  and  support  to  me,  because  I  have  cheer 
fully  given  my  humble  efforts  to  uphold  the  glory  of  a  nation, 
the  sustaining  of  a  wise  and  beneficent  government,  the 
crushing  of  an  unholy  rebellion,  the  exposition  of  a  devilish 
heresy,  the  elevation  of  truth  as  opposed  to  error.  Those 
efforts  for  a  while  have  been  paralyzed  and  even  now  I  am 
warned  that  the  flesh  is  weak.  I  am  not  as  I  have  been. 
This  poor  abused  body  fails  me  when  the  spirit  is  most 
strong,  and  truly  with  me  is  the  conviction  forced,  that  just 
as  I  am  learning  to  live  I  must  prepare  to  die.  And  the 
world  and  its  glories  to  me  are  so  pleasant.  No  day,  no  night, 
is  long,  "  every  moment,  lightly  shaken,  runs  itself  in  golden 
sands."  My  comrades  are  fast  passing  away.  You  have 
noted,  of  course,  the  death  of  poor  Ransom,  my  comrade  in 
battle,  my  bosom  friend,  whom  I  dearly  loved.  After  being 
four  times  wounded  in  battle,  he  went  back  to  the  field  to 
die  like  a  dog  of  this  disease,  this  scourge  of  the  soldier, 
dysentery.  I  saw  his  physician  a  day  or  two  ago,  who  told 
me  his  bowels  were  literally  perforated.  He  retained  his 
mind  clear  to  the  last  moment,  said  he  was  dying,  and  called 


Letters  369 

in  his  staff  as  lie  lay  in  his  tent  to  take  a  final  leave,  and 
issue  a  final  order.  How  much  better  to  die  as  McPherson, 
with  the  bullet  in  the  breast.  I  sometimes  think  my  health 
is  improving,  and  I  run  along  for  several  days  feeling  pretty 
well,  but  I  have  had  recent  evidence  that  at  this  time  I  am 
unfit  for  active  service  in  the  field.  A  Major- General's 
commission  is  just  within  my  grasp,  but  a  week's  march  and 
bivouac,  I  fear,  would  give  me  my  final  discharge.  Still,  it 
is  all  as  God  wills.  The  God  of  Heaven  has  watched  over 
all  my  steps,  and  with  that  careful  eye  which  never  sleeps, 
has  guarded  me  from  death  and  shielded  me  from  danger. 
Through  the  hours,  the  restless  hours  of  youth,  a  hand  un 
seen  has  guarded  all  my  footsteps  in  the  wild  and  thorny 
battles  of  life,  and  led  me  on  in  safety  through  them  all.  In 
later  days  still  the  same  hand  has  ever  been  my  guard  from 
dangers  seen  and  unseen.  Clouds  have  lowered,  and  tem 
pests  oft  have  burst  above  my  head,  but  that  projected  hand 
has  warded  off  the  thunder-strokes  of  death,  and  still  I  stand 
a  monument  of  mercy.  Years  have  passed  of  varied  dangers 
and  of  varied  guilt,  but  still  the  sheltering  wings  of  love 
have  been  outspread  in  mercy  over  me;  and  when  the 
allotted  task  is  done,  when  the  course  marked  out  by  that 
same  good  God  is  run,  then,  and  not  till  then,  shall  I,  in 
mercy,  pass  away.  Meanwhile,  give  me  your  prayers,  dear 
mother,  for  in  your  prayers,  and  in  those  of  the  dear  good 
women  who  remember  me  in  their  closets,  alone  with  their 
God,  do  I  place  all  faith.  Pray  for  me  that  I  be  not  led  into 
temptation,  that  I  may  be  delivered  from  evil. 

We  do  not  hear  from  General  Sherman,  but  we  have  the 
fullest  faith  that  all  will  be  well  with  him,  and  that  he  will 
accomplish  his  great  undertaking.  My  own  command  is  by 
this  time  with  Thomas  at  Paducah.  Say  to  Joe  and  Mar 
garet,  that  the  same  servants  are  about  General  Grant's 
headquarters,  each  man  remaining  true  at  his  post,  that  they 
all  inquired  after  Joe  and  Margaret  and  old  Uncle  Jeff,  and 
that  all  of  them  were  very  much  mortified  when  I  felt  com 
pelled  to  tell  them  that  Uncle  Jeff  had  abandoned  me.  They 
were  all  glad  to  hear  that  Joe  and  Margaret  were  married, 
and  all  sent  kind  messages  to  them.  General  Rawlins's 
24 


370  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

little  black  boy  Jerry  has  got  to  be  a  first  rate  servant,  and 
so  has  Colonel  Duff's  boy  Henry  ;  Douglass,  and  General 
Grant's  William,  are  all  on  hand.  Colonel  Duff's  sorrel 
horse,  John,  that  great  walking  horse  he  was  afraid  of,  the 
one  that  used  to  run  away  and  that  he  got  me  to  ride  (Joe 
will  remember  him),  was  captured  by  the  enemy.  The  Gen 
eral's  little  bay  stallion,  he  thought  so  much  of,  is  dead. 
He  sent  the  cream-colored  stallion  home.  I  write  this  to 
interest  Joe.  Tell  him  to  keep  quiet,  that  I  shall  soon  be 
home,  and  don't  want  him  to  leave  me  till  the  war  is  over, 
and  then  I  will  make  provision  for  him. 

Just  as  I  am  writing  now,  I  am  being  complimented  by  a 
serenade  from  a  splendid  brass  band.  I  would  give  a  good 
deal  if  you  were  all  here  on  the  banks  of  the  James,  to  hear 
the  thrilling  music,  though  I  should  want  you  away  as  soon 
as  it  was  over.  My  best  and  dearest  love  to  all  my  dear 
ones. 

Blessings  rest  upon  you  all,  forgive  my  haste  and  crude 
expressions.  It  is  always  hard  to  write  in  camp,  but  impos 
sible  almost  to  me  with  music  in  my  ear. 


HEADQUARTERS  ARMIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

Nov.  27,  1864. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

My  last  was  dated  from  headquarters  at  camp.  I  am  now 
sojourning  for  a  day  or  two  in  the  city  of  Washington,  ar 
ranging  my  business  with  some  of  the  departments.  I  shall 
head  towards  the  West  before  long,  and  have  the  pleasure 
of  greeting  you  all  on  my  way  to  the  field.  It  is  a  good 
while,  weeks,  since  I  have  had  a  line  or  intimation  of  any 
kind  from  home,  but  I  steel  my  heart  to  anything  approach 
ing  anxiety,  maintain  a  firm  faith  that  Providence  will  order 
all  things  as  is  best  for  us  all  and  bide  with  confidence  his 
decree.  My  health  is  better  a  good  deal  than  when  I  left 
home,  and  though  from  time  to  time  I  am  caught  up  by 
the  old  trouble,  I  think,  on  the  whole,  I  am  steadily  on  the 
mend.  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  chronic  nature  of  the 


Letters  371 

disease  that  will  remain  with  me  during  the  rest  of  my  life, 
but  some  years  of  usefulness  may  yet  be  spared  me.  My 
visit  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Grant  was  very  agree 
able  and  of  very  considerable  advantage  to  me. 

I  have  no  lack  of  courtesy  wherever  I  go,  and  here  in 
Washington  feel  compelled  to  lie  perdu  and  preserve  a  strict 
incognito,  lest  I  suffer  from  the  kindness  of  my  friends. 

I  enclose  a  rosebud  gathered  on  the  banks  of  the  James, 
in  the  close  vicinity  of  the  contending  armies  ;  it  was  liter 
ally  the  last  rose  of  the  summer  then,  for  that  night  a  heavy 
frost  fell,  and  my  plucking  saved  it  from  a  black  death  ;  it 
still  maintains  its  hues,  though  I  have  carried  it  in  my 
pocket  for  a  week,  and  I  hope  will  not  be  quite  withered 
ere  it  reach  your  hand. 


LOUISVILLE,  KY.,  ON  BOARD  STR.  "  HUNTSMAN," 

Thursday,  Dec.  22,  1864. 

Arriving  yesterday  morning  at  Louisville,  I  found  myself 
too  late  for  the  morning  train  to  Nashville,  and  of  course 
was  compelled  to  lie  over.  The  circumstance  was  fortunate, 
inasmuch  as  the  train  was  thrown  from  the  track  and  the 
passengers  who  started  were  compelled  to  return.  Discover 
ing  that  the  road  was  not  in  first  rate  working  order,  I  de 
termined  to  go  round  by  water,  and  am  now  about  taking 
my  departure  on  the  steamboat  Huntsman,  that,  if  we  have 
good  wind  and  meet  with  no  guerillas,  will  put  me  in  Nash 
ville  on  Monday  next.  I  expect  to  spend  Christmas  on  the 
Cumberland  River. 


ON  BOARD  STR.  "  HUNTSMAN," 
CUMBERLAND  RIVER,  Christmas,  1864. 

We  left  Louisville  Thursday  evening  last  and,  just  as 
the  boat  was  shoving  off,  I  indicted  you  a  brief  note. 
We  have  progressed  thus  far,  having  a  few  moments  since 
left  Fort  Donaldson  without  accident.  Fort  Donaldson,  as 


372  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

you  are  aware,  was  the  scene  of  General  Grant's  first  great 
victory,  and  the  starting-point  to  his  present  greatness.  I 
caught  but  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  fortifications  ;  from  the 
river  side  they  seem  almost  impregnable.  It  is  now  garri 
soned  by  some  twelve  hundered  troops.  All  the  way  to  this 
point  we  have  been  warned  to  keep  a  bright  lookout  for 
guerillas,  this  boat  being  the  pioneer  from  Louisville.  I 
have  apprehended  no  danger  and  feel  satisfied  that  so  far  as 
these  gentry  are  concerned  we  shall  reach  our  destination 
unobstructed.  The  anniversary,  as  usual,  brings  no  joy  to 
me,  save  that,  to-day,  I  have  leisure  in  quiet  to  make  a 
retrospect  of  the  past.  Last  Christmas  I  passed  on  the  banks 
of  the  Yazoo,  reviewing  the  field  of  battle  on  which  I  had 
fought  just  a  year  prior  to  this  time.  How  fraught  with 
events  to  me  these  years  have  been,  and  now  I  wonder 
where  my  next  Christmas  will  find  me. 

I  thought  when  I  started  to  keep  something  like  a  log  or 
diary  of  my  wanderings,  but  so  thorough  a  nomad  have  I 
become,  so  used  to  the  current  events  of  everyday  travel, 
especially  by  steamboat,  that  something  of  a  really  startling 
nature  must  transpire  to  make  me  think  it  worth  while  to 
note.  I  would  renew7  a  former  injunction  to  follow  my 
course  on  the  map.  Trace  me  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  up.  It  wrill  be  a  good  way  for  the 
children  to  learn  something  of  the  geography  of  the  country 
by  following  in  imagination  their  father's  wanderings,  in 
thousands  of  miles  through  various  States  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  extreme  New  England  coast.  It  will  seem  in 
credible  to  you,  until  after  careful  study,  how  much  I  have 
passed  over  within  the  past  year,  and  all  without  the  slight 
est  accident  from  the  perils  of  navigation  or  travel  by  land. 
I  lay  me  down  at  night  to  sleep  with  the  same  confidence 
with  which  I  share  your  pillow  ;  I  wake  in  the  morning  to 
find  myself  hundreds  of  miles  from  where  I  had  my  last 
waking  dream  or  dreaming  thought.  The  bird  of  passage  is 
hardly  fleet  enough  of  wing  to  outstrip  me  in  my  wandering. 
The  weather  was  very  cold  the  day  we  left  Louisville,  the 
next  still  colder  but  clear  and  beautiful  and  the  morning  sun 


Letters 


373 


rose  and  glittered  upon  one  of  the  strangest  scenes  I  have 
ever  witnessed  in  nature.  A  very  heavy  fog  rose  from  the 
river  about  one  o'clock,  and  settling  upon  the  trees  and 
shrubs  imperceptibly  froze  and  gathered  until  everything 
that  had  a  spray  was  clothed  with  the  lightest  feathery  tex 
ture  that  can  be  imagined,  lighter,  purer,  whiter  than  the 
softest  driven  snow,  and  each  little  flake  looking  like  a  small 
plume,  all  nodding  and  waving  to  the  passing  air  ;  all  this 
the  sun  shone  upon  from  a  cloudless  horizon  through  rosy 
tints  and  such  a  sunrise  has  rarely  been  witnessed.  The 
captain  of  our  boat,  an  old  man,  who  has  been  upon  the 
river  thirty  years,  saw  no  sight  like  it,  and  the  common 
est  deckhand  looked  on  with  rapture  at  the  beauty.  All 
day  under  a  bright  sun,  but  with  a  freezing  atmosphere 
we  glided  through  the  drift  of  a  full  and  rising  river,  and, 
by  starlight,  kept  on  through  the  night  coursing  the  bends 
and  running  the  chutes  bank  full  ;  the  next  day  was  warm, 
and  yesterday,  as  we  struck  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland, 
the  air  wras  soft  and  balmy  as  a  day  in  May.  We  are  run 
ning  now  nearly  due  south,  but  a  light  rain  is  falling  ;  it  is 
a  soft,  green  Christmas  here.  No  passengers  on  the  boat; 
Joe  and  the  horses,  and  officers  and  the  crew,  all.  We  are 
freighted  with  iron  and  lumber,  oats  and  corn.  I  tread  the 
deck  sole  monarch  of  the  steamboat.  The  Cumberland 
winds  through  high  banks  of  limestone  rock,  rich  with 
iron  and  coal,  occasional  bottoms  fertile  for  corn,  but  the 
rolling  land  back  thin  and  sterile. 

26th. — Detained  at  Clarkesville  by  the  unwarrantable  in 
terference  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  gunboat  fleet  who 
deemed  it  necessary  to  give  us  convoy  against  guerillas,  lay 
there  all  night  and  until  9  A.M.  of  the  2yth,  which  passes 
without  event.  Scenery  on  the  river  beautiful,  high  rocky 
cliffs  of  limestone,  iron  in  abundance  in  these  hills.  Arrived 
at  Nashville  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  28th. 
City  dirty  and  disagreeable  ;  has  been  the  abode  of  wealth, 
as  evidenced  in  the  splendid  architecture  of  the  private 
dwellings,  but  everything  now  shows  the  brunt  of  war  and 
war's  desolation. 

I  find  many  friends  and  am  hospitably  entertained  at  the 


374  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

quarters  of  General  Sawyer,  General  Sherman's  Adjutant- 
General.  The  military  are  all  agog  at  the  good  news  from 
Sherman,  but  everybody  here  is  as  ignorant  as  I  am  of 
Hood's  movements,  of  Thomas's  intent.  I  have  telegraphed 
to  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  who  is  far  to  the  front,  but  as  yet  re 
ceive  no  response.  Railroad  communication  will  be  opened 
soon,  we  hope,  to  near  the  front,  when  I  shall  progress  as 
soon  as  possible. 

P.  S. — You  may  have  noticed  in  the  papers  that  the  train 
from  Louisville  to  this  point  was  attacked  and  captured,  and 
that  thus  travel  by  rail  was  interrupted.  With  my  usual 
good  fortune,  I  have  escaped  this  calamity,  and  it  is  doubly 
well  with  me  that  I  came  by  boat. 


HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 
NASHVILLE,  TENN.,  Dec.  30,  1864. 


I  was  inexpressibly  gratified  by  the  reception  your  affec 
tionate  letter  of  26th  inst.,  handed  me  to-day.  It  came  just 
in  time,  for  I  have  my  orders,  and  am  about  leaving  for  East- 
port,  Mississippi,  via  Paducah,  and  a  steamboat  is  in  waiting 
to  carry  me  down  the  Cumberland  and  up  the  Tennessee. 
I  shall  debark  close  to  the  old  battle-ground  of  Shiloh. 

I  shall  probably  take  command  of  a  division  made  up  from 
my  old  division  and  another  in  Smith's  corps.  After  a  little 
there  will  be  a  new  organization  entire  of  the  army  here,  and 
I  shall  hope  to  be  recognized. 


STR  "  CLARA  POE,"  CUMBERLAND  RIVER, 

NEAR  PADUCAH,  January  i,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

I  am  waiting  to  coal  and  for  a  convoy  and  soon  shall  be 
with  my  command,  I  hope.  I  am  mortified  to  learn  here, 
within  a  few  moments,  that  Hood  has  succeeded  with  the 


Letters  375 

remnant  of  his  army  in  crossing  the  Tennessee  upon  the 
shoals  ;  we  disabled  two  of  his  guns  and  captured  a  portion 
of  his  pontoons,  but  for  a  while  he  has  escaped,  and  this  may 
materially  disarrange  the  plan  of  our  campaign. 

The  weather  continues  very  pleasant,  and  we  are  well  pro 
vided  with  food. 


ON  BOARD  FI,AG  SHIP  "  FAIRY," 
UP  TENNESSEE  RIVER  ON  THE  ALABAMA  SIDE,  THREE 
Mii<ES  ABOVE  EASTPORT,  January  6,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  WIFK  : 

My  heading  will  show  you  my  position,  that  you  can  the 
better  learn  from  the  map.  I  am  now,  in  point  of  fact, 
within  the  Alabama  lines.  I  reported  the  day  before  yester 
day  to  Major-Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  at  Clifton,  Tennessee,  in 
person,  and  immediately  received  the  following  order  : 

"  Special  Orders  \  ^xtract  n 
"No.  3.          J 

"  Brig.-Gen.  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  U.  S.  V.,  having  re 
ported  at  these  headquarters  for  duty,  is  hereby  assigned  to, 
and  will  at  once  assume  command  of,  the  Third  Division, 
Detachment  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

"  Col.  J.  B.  Moore,  now  commanding  the  Third  Division, 
is  hereby  relieved  from  such  command,  and  will  report  to 
Brig.-Gen.  T.  K.  Smith  for  assignment. 

"  In  relieving  Colonel  Moore,  the  Major-General  com 
manding  desires  to  express  his  high  appreciation  of  the  able, 
thorough,  and  soldierly  manner  with  which  he  has  executed 
the  trust  confided  to  him  in  the  command. 

"  By  order  of  Major-Gen.  A.  J.  Smith, 

"  J.  HOUGH,  Asst.  Adjt.-Gen." 

I  have  transcribed  the  order  in  full  because  it  contains  a 
well-deserved  compliment  to  a  soldier  of  my  own  making, 
and  who  received  all  his  training  from  me,  and  who  has 
done  full  justice  to  his  preceptor  in  the  important  responsi 
bilities  thrust  upon  him  in  my  absence.  I  have  not  yet 


3  j6  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

assumed  command,  because  1  am  reconnoitring  the  river 
with  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  upon  Admiral  Lee's  ship,  with  a 
view  to  position  and  the  debarkation  of  our  troops.  Admiral 
Lee,  who  is  in  command  of  the  Mississippi  Squadron,  has 
been  immensely  polite  to  me,  and  has  made  me  quite  at 
home  with  him.  All  my  officers,  and  those  at  General 
Smith's  headquarters,  have  expressed  much  joy  at  my  re 
turn,  which  I  assure  you  is  mutual  ;  on  my  part  I  am  grati 
fied  beyond  expression  in  being  once  more  restored  to  my 
command  and  associated  with  my  comrades  in  arms.  I 
write  under  some  difficulty,  for  the  boat  is  shaking  exces 
sively,  and  I  can  hardly  keep  my  pen  to  the  paper,  but  as  a 
despatch  boat  will  be  sent  down  this  evening,  I  avail  myself 
of  the  opportunity,  as  I  do  of  each  that  presents  itself,  to  ad 
vise  you  of  my  movements  and  physical  condition.  My 
health  is  tolerably  good  ;  I  am  not  as  well  as  when  on  the 
Cumberland,  and  from  two  causes — the  weather  is  murky 
and  the  Tennessee  water  unwholesome,  added  to  which  my 
food  has  not  for  two  or  three  days  been  as  good  as  usual,  and 
I  suffer  from  the  confined  air  of  the  boats.  Heretofore  I 
have  had  the  boat  exclusively  to  myself,  but  since  arriving 
at  Clifton,  there  has  been  a  necessity  for  transportation  of 
troops  and  the  boats  are  all  crowded  with  soldiers.  How 
ever,  I  am  every  way  better  than  I  expected  to  be  at  this 
time,  and  certainly  have  no  right  to  complain.  Joe  and  the 
horses  are  in  good  care,  and  when  we  get  to  some  place  I 
will  write  you  a  long  letter. 

Since  writing  the  above,  our  boat  has  stopped  at  Eastport, 
and  I  have  been  ashore  on  horseback  with  General  Smith, 
reconnoitring  the  country,  and  such  a  desolate,  cursed, 
God-forgotten,  man-forsaken,  vile,  wretched  place  I  have 
never  yet  seen  in  all  my  campaigning.  If  I  shall  have  to 
stay  here  long,  I  shall  well-nigh  go  crazy.  We  hear  Hood 
is  moving  south  ;  his  pickets  disappeared  from  this  place 
night  before  last,  and  there  is  what  has  been  for  them  a 
strong  fortification.  There  are  but  two  or  three  families 
left,  and  they  in  the  last  stages  of  destitution  ;  whenever 
you  offer  a  prayer,  petition  that  you  or  yours  may  never  be 


Letters  377 

in  the  war-path.  You  read  of  horrors  of  war,  but  you  can 
form  no  conception  of  those  horrors  until  you  are  an  eye 
witness  of  its  results  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
where  it  has  raged,  where  they  have  been,  as  they  usually 
are,  the  prey  of  both  contending  parties.  I  shall  probably 
go  down  the  river  as  far  as  Clifton,  where  my  own  command 
is,  to-morrow,  to  be  governed  by  circumstances  that  may 
transpire  after  my  arrival.  As  the  case  now  stands,  in  all 
probability,  I  shall  go  into  winter  quarters  somewhere  here 
abouts,  and  General  Thomas's  orders  are  "  Kastport."  My 
third  winter  in  the  South  does  not  promise  more  comfort 
than  the  two  that  have  preceded  it.  Four  winters  ago  it 
was  Camp  Dennison  and  Paducah,  the  next  Young's  Point, 
before  Vicksburg,  in  the  swamps,  the  next  between  the 
Black  and  Yazoo  Rivers,  the  worst  country,  save  this,  I 
ever  saw,  and  this  winter,  here,  up  the  Tennessee.  I  think 
I  have  had  my  share  of  the  dark  side  of  the  war,  but  my 
motto  is,  a  stiff  upper  lip,  and  never  say  die.  If  health,  the 
great  desideratum,  is  spared,  the  rest  will  come.  General 
Garrard,  one  of  Mrs.  McLean's  sons,  is  here.  His  head  is 
as  bald  as  an  egg,  and  he  looks  to  be  a  thousand  years  old. 
War  adds  age  fast. 

You  must  address  your  letters  to  me  as  General  command 
ing  Third  Division  Detachment  Army  of  the  Tennessee ',  via 
Cairo.  I  suppose  I  shall  stand  a  chance  of  getting  them 
sometime  within  a  month  or  less. 


EASTPORT,  Miss.,  January  10,  1865. 

Our  fleet  arrived  here  this  morning,  and  I  am  just  debark 
ing  troops  in  the  muddiest,  worst  country  I  ever  saw.  For 
some  days  past,  as  I  wrote  you  in  a  former  letter,  I  have 
been  upon  the  flag  ship  of  Admiral  Lee,  commanding  the 
Mississippi  Squadron,  and  have  been  very  comfortable  ;  the 
almost  entire  rest  has  been  favorable  to  my  health.  I  shall 
now  be  compelled  to  rough  it  ashore,  but  I  think  I  shall  get 
through. 


378  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

General  Thomas,  I  this  moment  learn,  is  expected  here 
to-day. 

The  weather  is  warm,  raining,  muggy,  and  intensely  dis- 
ageeable,  a  warm  Southern  winter  such  as  we  had  at  Young's 
Point. 


HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  DIVISION, 

DETACHMENT  ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE, 

IN  THE  FIELD,  Sunday,  Jan.  15,  1865. 

I  am  now  once  more  fairly  in  the  field,  and  at  the  head  of 
my  command.  My  tent  is  pitched  upon  a  pleasant  knoll  in 
a  very  hilly,  almost  mountainous  country,  from  whence  I 
have  a  view  of  the  Tennessee  river,  and  parts  of  three  States, 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama.  The  ground  is 
gravelly  and  the  forests  pine,  so  that  I  keep  comparatively 
dry  ;  the  floor  of  my  tent  is  carpeted  with  pine  boughs  that 
make  a  pleasant  smell.  For  some  days  past  the  weather 
has  been  delightful,  clear,  bright  and  warm,  yet  bracing. 
Already  the  rose  and  briar  are  putting  forth  green  leaves  and 
bulbous  roots  are  springing  from  the  ground.  The  atmos 
phere  is  about  as  it  would  be  in  your  latitude,  say  the  ist  of 
May,  or  thereabouts.  My  health  improves,  bowels  decidedly 
better,  appetite  pretty  good,  and  the  most  that  troubles  me 
now  is  a  tendency  to  take  cold,  cold  with  an  irritation  of  the 
throat.  This  is  to  be  expected,  for  I  could  hardly  go  from 
careful  nursing  directly  into  the  field  without  some  shock  to 
the  system. 

My  command  is  not  yet  thoroughly  organized,  and  I  have 
some  new  appointments  of  staff  officers  to  make  ;  in  the 
course  of  a  day  or  two  I  shall  publish  my  staff,  and  will  send 
you  a  copy.  ...  I  have  three  brigades  ;  our  detach 
ments  are  about  being  organized  into  a  corps  of  three  divi 
sions,  each  division  of  three  brigades.  The  division  com 
manders  are  General  McArthur,  General  Garrard  (Kenna 
Garrard  of  West  Point,  oldest  son  of  Mrs.  McLean),  and 
myself,  all  under  command  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith. 

A  large  mail  has  come  to-day  with  the  fleet  that  brought 


BRIQADIER-QENERAL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH, 

WASHINGTON,     1864. 


Letters  3  79 

up  General  Thomas  and  troops,  but  I  am  disappointed  in 
finding  nothing  for  me. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  25,  1865. 

You  will  doubtless  be  surprised  at  the  heading  of  this 
note.  On  the  iyth  inst.  I  received  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  a  telegram  ordering  me  to  repair  without  delay  to  the 
Adjutant- General  of  the  United  States.  The  same  day  Gen 
eral  Thomas  ordered  a  steamboat  to  transport  me  to  Paducah, 
from  thence  I  came  hither  almost  on  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
staying  neither  for  fog,  flood,  nor  mountain  pass,  though  I 
was  befogged  near  Louisville,  and  snowed  up  one  night  in 
the  Alleghenies.  Still,  considering  the  distance,  I  made 
marvellously  good  time,  and  arrived  here  last  night.  I  dis 
cover  that  I  have  been  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (of  Congress),  probably  to 
testify  in  reference  to  the  Red  River  expedition. 

I  shall  know  to-morrow.  My  stay  here  will  be  only  tem 
porary,  and  I  shall  probably  from  here  be  ordered  back  to 
Bastport  or  wherever  my  command  is.  You  may  think  it 
strange  that  I  could  not  stop  for  at  least  a  day,  but  I 
dared  not.  I  had  been  pretty  well  up  to  the  time  I  was 
ordered  here,  but  that  very  day  my  old  complaint  came 
back  upon  me  with  great  violence  and  lasted  every  day  of 
my  journey,  and  I  feared  to  make  a  halt  lest  I  should  be  de 
tained  as  I  was  before.  To-day  I  am  a  good  deal  better.  I 
have  not  heard  one  word  from  home  since  the  letters  that 
reached  me  at  Nashville. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  7,  1865. 

If  I  can  get  permission,  I  shall  stop  for  a  day  to  see  you, 
as  I  return  to  the  field,  unless,  indeed,  as  there  is  some  rea 
son  to  suppose,  I  be  transferred  to  another  command.  I  am 
offered  a  splendid  division  in  the  cavalry  service.  .  .  . 
But  if  I  take  it  I  am  brought  right  into  the  Army  of  the  Po- 


380  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

tomac,  and  I  can't  bear  to  lose  rny  Western  boys,  or  the 
broad  Savannahs  in  the  South,  where  I  hope  glory  yet  awaits 
me.  I  have  been  to  some  parties  and  some  receptions,  have 
paid  my  respects  to  most  of  the  Secretaries  and  to  the  Presi 
dent  and  his  wife,  and  altogether  have  been  having  a  pretty 
good  time  here  in  Washington.  My  mind  has  been  relaxed 
and  relieved,  and  it  has  done  me  good. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OE  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  ALA.,  March  23,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  you  the  locality  of  ' '  Dau- 
phine  Island"  and  Fort  Gaines,  my  headquarters  for  the 
present.  It  is  just  beyond  Grant's  Pass,  at  the  entrance  of 
Mobile  Bay,  about  twenty-eight  miles  from  the  city  of 
Mobile,  and  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  New 
Orleans.  The  island  is  not  many  miles  in  circumference, 
and,  save  on  one  side,  the  view  from  it  is  only  bounded  by 
the  horizon,  it  has  little  vegetation  but  pine  trees,  and  the 
surface  is  covered  with  fine,  white  perfectly  clean  sand, 
almost  as  free  from  impurities  as  snow.  The  beaches  are 
fine,  and  the  music  of  the  surf  is  always  in  my  ear.  Oysters 
and  fish  of  the  finest  varieties  abound  and  I  have  every 
facility  for  taking  them.  I  have  never  seen  oysters  so  fat  or 
of  so  delicate  flavor,  and  I  am  told  that  they  are  good  and 
wholesome  every  month  in  the  year.  I  am  fortunate  in 
having  secured  a  most  excellent  cook,  whose  specialty  seems 
to  be  the  preparation  of  oysters,  and  really  I  have  eaten  no 
other  food  except  bread  since  I  have  been  here.  During 
present  operations,  and  until  I  move  to  headquarters,  I  shall 
be  in  daily  communication  with  New  Orleans,  newspapers 
from  whence  reach  me  within  twenty-four  hours  of  publica 
tion.-  The  air  here  is  most  delicious,  and  is  said  to  be  highly 
salubrious.  From  time  immemorial  the  citizens  of  New 
Orleans  and  Southern  Louisiana  have  resorted  here  for  the 
benefit  of  health,  and  these  islands,  and  the  coast  near  by 
have  been  ever  free  from  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever.  I 


Letters  381 

look  southward  over  the  open  sea  towards  Havana,  and  it  is 
from  the  West  Indies  that  the  pleasant  south  wind  comes. 
My  health  improves,  my  bowels  have  not  troubled  me  for  a 
good  while,  and  under  God  I  am  blessed  with  the  most 
favorable  opportunity  possible  to  recuperate  my  well-nigh 
exhausted  energies. 

My  anxiety  will  be  great  until  I  hear  of  the  return  in  safety 
of  my  dear  wife.  I  left  her  in  what  to  her  was  an  embarrass 
ing  situation,  and  I  am  proud  to  say  she  governed  herself 
like  a  true  heroine,  and  though  left  entirely  alone  in  a 
strange  hotel,  in  a  strange  city,  and  among  entire  strangers, 
she  bore  herself  at  my  sudden  departure  like  a  true  soldier's 
wife,  without  a  whimper.  I  left  Walter  on  the  street  with 
out  a  good-bye.  I  pray  to  God  they  have  got  home  safe. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 

FORT  GAINES,  AI,A.,  March  21,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  cannot  express  the  sorrow  and  chagrin  I  felt  at  being 
compelled  to  leave  you  and  our  dear  little  boy  so  abruptly. 
I  know  it  must  be  many  days,  that  it  may  be  many  weeks, 
before  I  can  with  reason  hope  to  receive  assurance  of  your 
safety,  and  you  may  judge  my  present  anxiety.  Were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  I  have  schooled  my  mind  to  dismiss 
apprehensions  for  the  future,  I  should  be  heartsick  indeed, 
and  whatever  philosophy  I  bring  to  my  aid,  I  shall  not  be 
happy  till  I  learn  of  your  safe  arrival  at  home.  I  could  not 
foresee  so  rapid  a  movement  of  troops  or  so  urgent  a  necessity 
for  my  instant  departure  from  New  Orleans,  or  I  should  not 
have  assumed  the  responsibility  of  bringing  you  down .  And 
if  anything  untoward  happens,  my  conscience  will  never 
cease  to  reprove  me  for  an  act  selfish,  if  not  unjustified, 
though  apart  from  the  pleasure  of  your  society  I  hoped 
benefit  to  your  health. 

The  enclosed  orders  will  show  my  command  and  present 
address.  The  latter  I  have  reason  to  hope  will  very  shortly, 
with  my  headquarters,  be  at  ' '  Mobile. ' '  Meanwhile,  letters 


382  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

addressed  to  me  as  commanding  District  Southern  Alabama, 

will  reach  me  via  New  Orleans. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  ALA.,  March  26,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER : 

Shall  my  letter  to  you,  my  sweet  daughter,  "rise  to  the 
swelling  of  the  voiceful  sea  ?  "  The  ocean  waters  are  in  my 
ears  continually,  chafing  and  fretting,  never  by  day  or  night 
one  moment  still.  My  house  is  close  to  the  beach,  so  close, 
that  the  spray  of  the  wave  sometimes  wets  my  window  pane. 
The  deep  water  is  nearer  to  me,  as  I  sit  to  write,  than  the 
little  grass  plat  before  the  front  door  to  you  as  you  stand  in 
the  threshold.  The  last  sound  that  I  hear,  as  I  turn  to 
sleep,  is  the  wave  on  the  shore  ;  the  first  object  that  greets 
my  eye  as  I  wake  in  the  morning,  is  the  wave  dimpling  in 
the  calm  dawn  or  throwing  up  its  white  caps  in  the  freshen 
ing  breeze.  And  all  about  me  tells  of  the  great  deep  and  all 
its  wonders.  You  have  never  yet  seen  the  ocean,  my  dear 
child  ;  nor  much  of  those  who  go  down  to  the  sea.  When 
its  vast  expanse  meets  your  eye,  you  will  be  wonderstruck. 
All  the  day  you  can  watch  by  its  shore  and  never  weary.  I 
wish  you,  with  your  sister  and  brothers,  could  be  with  me  to 
wander  on  the  beach  and  gather  some  of  the  beautiful  shells 
that  are  washed  on  the  sands,  and  watch  the  breakers  and 
the  roll  of  the  surf,  and  stand  at  evening  and  see  the  sun  go 
down,  plunging  with  his  last  dip,  apparently,  into  the  sea 
itself,  and  then  throwing  up  his  long  rays  like  arms  in  agony. 
Sunsets  at  sea  are  very  beautiful,  and  very  suggestive  of 
beautiful  thoughts.  I  have  got  a  nice  little  island  here 
about  ten  miles  long,  and  in  the  widest  part  about  two  miles. 
I  wrote  to  grandma  the  other  day  that  it  was  all  covered 
with  white  sand,  and  that  there  was  no  vegetation  save 
pine  trees  ;  but  I  was  mistaken,  for  I  have  found  one  or  two 
pretty  garden  plots,  and  in  one  of  them  peach  trees,  and 
lemon  and  orange  trees,  were  in  bloom.  I  have  found  some 
very  old  orange  trees  a  good  deal  thicker  at  the  trunk  than 
your  body,  and  as  high  and  branching  as  any  apple  tree  you 


Letters  383 

ever  saw.  There  used  to  be  several  families  on  the  island, 
but  the  commandant  sent  them  all  away  to  New  Orleans. 
They  made  a  little  livelihood  by  catching  oysters  and  fishing 
for  the  Mobile  market,  and  some  of  them  burned  the  oyster 
shells  into  lime.  You  would  be  astonished  at  the  great 
banks  of  oyster  shells  there  are  here,  showing  what  a  pro 
digious  quantity  of  the  creature  is  raked  up  from  the  beds, 
which  are  yet  apparently  inexhaustible. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 

FORT  GAINES,  AI,A.,  April  4,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 


As  to  Mobile,  in  my  judgment,  it  is  going  to  be  a  long 
siege.  The  general  impression  was  that  there  would  be  a 
speedy  evacuation,  but  the  attack  has  been  so  long  delayed, 
that  the  enemy  have  had  full  opportunity  to  fortify  and  are 
making  a  most  obstinate  resistance.  They  have  filled  all 
the  approaches  by  land  and  water,  with  torpedoes  ingeniously 
contrived,  and  concealed  in  every  channel  and  avenue  ;  so 
thickly  strewn,  that  though  we  have  picked  up  a  large  num 
ber,  three  fine  gunboats  and  many  lives  have  already  been 
lost  by  them.  The  torpedo  is  made  of  wood,  thickly  coated 
on  the  outside  with  pitch  and  tar  so  as  to  be  quite  water 
proof,  is  somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a  cigar,  and  eighteen 
inches  thick,  tapering  at  both  ends,  in  which  there  is  a 
vacuum,  the  middle  portion  being  filled  with  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  pounds  of  gunpowder,  which  is  ignited  through 
brass  tubes  with  copper  ends,  by  means  of  friction  and  per 
cussion  powder.  They  are  anchored  just  below  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  sometimes  several  are  attached  by  strings 
or  wire.  A  vessel  in  passing  over  them  produces  the  neces 
sary  friction,  and  the  explosion,  if  immediately  underneath 
the  vessel  is  generally  sufficient  to  blow  a  hole  through  the 
bottom  and  sink  her.  These  I  have  described,  are  the  water 
torpedoes  ;  those  used  upon  the  land  are  generally  an  eight- 
inch  shell,  that  is,  a  cannon  ball,  hollow,  eight  inches  in 
diameter,  filled  with  powder  and  the  fuse  so  arranged  that  a 


384  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

pressure  of  ten  pounds  will  explode  them.  They  are  con 
cealed  in  the  sand  just  below  the  surface,  and  the  tread  of  a 
horse's  foot,  or  the  passage  of  a  wheel,  is  sufficient  to  explode 
them,  or  even  the  pressure  of  a  man's  foot  if  put  down  hard. 
A  staff  officer,  riding  the  other  day,  woke  up  from  a  state  of 
insensibility  to  discover  himself  fifteen  feet  from  the  road 
way,  and  the  mangled  remains  of  his  horse  that  had  been 
blown  to  atoms,  he,  by  strange  chance,  escaping  with  the 
temporary  loss  of  his  senses  and  the  bruises  of  his  fall.  The 
immense  number  of  these  shells  and  torpedoes  scattered  in 
every  possible  place  on  land  or  in  water,  renders  the  ap 
proaches  to  Spanish  Fort,  that  at  present  is  the  key  to  the  po 
sition,  most  difficult,  and  has  made  the  navy  timid  and  wary 
in  the  management  of  their  ships,  while  our  troops  on  shore 
have  found  a  secret  foe  hard  to  combat.  Every  man  feels 
that  he  is  literally  walking  on  the  thin  crust  of  a  volcano. 
We  have,  however,  thoroughly  invested  the  fort,  the  garri 
son  of  which  now  is  supposed  to  number  some  six  or  seven 
thousand  men,  and  will  soon  be  able  to  cut  it  off  entirely 
from  Mobile.  We  shall  then,  I  think,  resort  to  sapping  and 
mining,  and  it  will  become  a  question  of  time  as  at  Vicks- 
burg.  Meanwhile,  our  forces  under  Wilson,  will  attack  from 
the  other  side,  and  the  result,  in  my  mind,  though  far  off,  is 
not  doubtful.  Still,  we  may  have  trouble  from  another 
quarter.  As  you  know,  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  have 
been  sanguine  as  to  the  speedy  termination  of  the  war,  and 
have  doubtless,  by  free  expression  of  opinion  in  that  regard, 
sacrificed  a  reputation  I  might  have  had  for  a  wiseacre.  I 
think  before  long  we  shall  have  something  from  Kirby 
Smith,  and  that  when  Richmond  is  evacuated,  the  war  will 
have  to  be  begun  anew.  The  obstinate  resistance  they  are 
making  at  Mobile,  fortifies  my  preconceived  opinions,  that 
are  of  no  great  value,  for  all  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  will 
bring  these  troubles  to  a  close  in  His  own  good  time.  Still, 
you  must  be  patient,  and  not  expect  an  early  raising  of  the 
siege. 

I  am  comfortably  situated  at  this  time.     I  have  a  great 
deal  of  responsibility  and  a  highly  honorable  position,  if  I 


Letters  385 

have  rank  enough  to  hold  it.  All  the  time,  or  nearly  all  the 
time  I  was  a  colonel,  in  fact,  I  may  say  all  the  time  I  was  a 
lieutenant-colonel,  I  exercised  the  rank  of  colonel  ;  all  the 
time,  or  nearly  all  the  time  I  was  colonel,  I  exercised  the 
rank,  duties,  and  responsibilities  of  a  brigadier-general.  And 
all  the  time  I  have  been  brigadier-general,  the  duties  of  a 
major-general  have  been  thrust  upon  me.  I  have  recently, 
as  you  perceive  by  the  copies  of  orders  I  sent  you,  relieved 
Major-General  Granger,  and  the  labor,  expense,  and  respon 
sibility  devolved  upon  him,  now  rests  with  me,  with  this 
difference — he  had  more  staff  and  $1,200  per  annum  more 
pay.  But  I  shall  never  get  any  more  rank  because  I  am  a 
volunteer  officer.  The  brevet  I  would  not  give  a  fig  for  ; 
they  are  so  common  that  they  do  not  confer  honor,  and  they 
do  not,  under  any  circumstance,  the  old  rule  in  that  regard 
being  changed,  give  more  pay. 

Although  in  April,  the  weather  is  not  yet  unpleasantly 
warm,  except  in  the  sun  ;  indeed,  I  make  it  a  point  to  keep 
a  little  fire,  that  is  a  good  guard  against  malaria.  The  birds, 
among  them  my  old  friend  the  mocking-bird,  have  come  and 
I  send  you  blossoms  that  will  fade  before  they  reach  you, 
but  will  carry  some  fragrance  from  the  little  island  by  the 
sea  that  is  now  my  home. 

I  have  just  been  called  from  writing  to  receive  a  visit  from 
Capt.  J.  R.  Madison  Mullany,  an  old  officer  of  the  navy  now 
commanding  the  U.  S.  S.  Bienville,  and  commanding  the 
squadron  here.  He  is  a  very  gallant  officer  and  lost  an  arm, 
amputated  close  at  the  shoulder,  in  the  capture  of  these 
forts.  A  recommendation  of  him  to  you  will  be  the  fact  of 
his  being  a  sincere  and  devout  Catholic,  and  I  was  pleased 
to  find  him  a  courteous  and  finished  gentleman,  as  most 
officers  of  the  old  navy  were. 

HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  AI^A.,  April  9,  1865. 

I  have  this  moment  received  news  that  Petersburg  has 
fallen,  Richmond  evacuated,  and  Grant  in  hot  pursuit  of 

25 


386  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

Lee's  retreating  army.  It  comes  to  me  vaguely;  still,  there 
are  good  grounds  for  the  rumor.  Our  own  siege  drags 
slowly.  I  miss  Sherman  and  Grant  and  my  lamented  friend 
McPherson.  I  don't  find  the  old  spirit  down  here  ;  still  we 
shall  succeed  ;  that  is  beyond  all  peradventure,  our  troops 
are  in  good  spirits  and  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  enemy's 
escaping  us. 

The  weather  has  been  cool  here  and  generally  pleasant. 
My  health  is  not  very  good,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  en 
joy  it.  I  think  the  malarial  influence  of  my  last  summer's 
campaign  is  still  upon  me,  and  I  doubt  whether  the  sea  air 
agrees  with  me  ;  but  I  keep  about  and  attend  to  business.  I 
am  taking  quinine  in  pretty  large  and  frequent  doses.  I 
shall  take  all  possible  care  of  myself ;  but  I  fear  my  old 
powers  will  never  return  to  me.  I  ought  not  to  complain, 
and  strive  to  be  contented  ;  but  I  am  made  conscious  that 
the  days  are  drawing  near  when  the  ' '  grasshopper  will  be  a 
burthen." 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  ALA.,  April  n,  1865. 

I  wrote  you  the  day  before  yesterday,  since  which  time 
the  glorious  news  from  Richmond  I  alluded  to  has  been  cor 
roborated  ;  and  meanwThile  we  have  had  great  success  before 
Mobile.  Spanish  Fort  has  been  reduced  ;  carried  by  assault  ; 
five  hundred  prisoners  and  an  equal  number  of  the  enemy 
killed  and  wounded.  "  Blakely  "  has  also  been  carried,  and 
two  thousand  five  hundred  prisoners  captured.  It  is  now 
with  us  only  a  question  of  time,  though  the  garrison  at 
Mobile  and  the  fortifications  are  still  making  an  obstinate  de 
fence.  The  enemy  fights  with  great  gallantry,  but  must 
ultimately  succumb.  Our  navy,  in  this  siege,  has  not  dis 
played  much  enterprise  or  great  gallantry.  An  excuse  may 
be  found  in  the  demoralizing  effect  of  the  torpedoes  that  sunk 
three  of  their  best  ships.  The  particulars  of  the  news  you 
will  get  through  the  public  prints  before  my  letter  reaches 
you.  I  hope  my  letters  do  reach  you.  I  write  often  two  or 


Letters  387 

three  or  four  times  a  week.  No  letters  to  me  from  anybody 
yet  save  the  three  from  you  dated  at  Baton  Rouge,  Vicks- 
burg,  and  Cairo.  I  am  really  heartsick  for  letters  from  home. 
I  sailed  up  Mobile  Bay  yesterday  through  the  fleet  and 
close  in  sight  of  the  city,  whose  spires  and  housetops,  wharfs 
and  boats,  reminded  me  of  the  distant  views  I  used  to  have 
of  Vicksburg  during  the  siege. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  ALA.,  April  19,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER  BETTIE  : 

I  have  just  returned  from  Mobile,  where  I  have  been  so 
journing  for  three  or  four  days  past,  and  you  will  want  some 
description  of  the  city  and  what  I  saw  there.  You  must 
know  that  Mobile,  the  principal  city  and  only  seaport  of 
Alabama,  was  the  original  seat  of  French  colonization  in  the 
southwest,  and  for  many  years  the  capital  of  the  colony  of 
Louisiana.  I  shall  transcribe  for  you  a  little  bit  of  history, 
while  for  its  geographical  position  you  must  go  to  the  map. 
In  1702,  Lemoine  de  Bienville,  acting  under  the  instructions 
of  his  brother  Iberville,  transferred  the  principal  seat  of  the 
colony  from  Biloxi,  where  it  had  been  established  three 
years  previously,  to  a  point  on  the  river  Mobile,  supposed 
to  be  about  twenty  miles  above  the  present  site  of  the  city, 
where  he  established  a  post  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
"  St.  Louis  de  la  Mobile."  At  the  same  time  he  built  a  fort 
and  warehouse  on  "  Isle  Dauphine,"  at  the  entrance  of 
Mobile  Bay  (where  my  headquarters  now  are). 

The  settlement  at  Biloxi  was  soon  afterwards  broken  up. 
In  1704,  there  was  an  arrival  of  twenty  young  girls  from 
France,  and  the  next  year  of  twenty-three  others,  selected 
and  sent  out  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  as 
wives  for  the  colonists.  Many  of  the  original  settlers  were 
Canadians,  like  Iberville  and  Bienville.  In  1705,  occurred 
a  severe  epidemic,  supposed  to  be  the  first  recorded  visitation 
of  yellow  fever,  by  which  thirty-five  persons  were  carried  off. 

The  year  1706  is  noted  for  the  "  petticoat  insurrection," 


388  *       Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

which  was  a  threatened  rebellion  of  females  in  consequence 
of  the  dissatisfaction  with  the  diet  of  Indian  corn,  to  which 
they  were  reduced.  The  colony  meanwhile  frequently 
suffered  from  famine  as  well  as  from  the  attacks  of  Indians 
although  relieved  by  occasional  supplies  sent  from  the  mother 
country.  In  1711  the  settlement  was  nearly  destroyed  by  a 
hurricane  and  flood  in  consequence  of  which  it  was  removed 
to  its  present  situation.  In  1712  the  King  of  France  made 
a  grant  of  the  whole  colony  to  Antoine  Crozat,  a  wealthy 
French  merchant,  and  in  the  following  year  Bienville  was 
superseded  as  governor  by  M.  de  la  Motte  Cadillac.  In  1717 
Crozat  relinquished  his  grant  to  the  French  government,  and 
Bienville  was  reinstated.  In  1723,  the  seat  of  the  colonial 
government  was  transferred  to  New  Orleans.  In  1763,  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  Mobile  with  all  that  portion  of  Louisiana 
lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  Bayou  Iberville, 
Lake  Maurepas,  and  Pontchar train,  passed  into  the  posses 
sion  of  Great  Britain.  In  1780,  the  Fort,  the  name  of  which 
had  been  changed  into  Fort  Conde,  and  subsequently  by  the 
British  to  Fort  Charlotte,  was  captured  by  the  Spanish  Gen 
eral,  Don  Galvez,  Governor  of  Louisiana,  and  in  1783,  its 
occupancy  was  confirmed  to  Spain  by  the  cession  to  that 
power  of  all  the  British  possession  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
On  the  1 3th  of  April,  1813,  just  fifty-two  years  before  the 
time  it  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  General  Canby,  the 
Spanish  Commandant  Gayatama  Perez  surrendered  the  fort 
and  town  to  General  Wilkinson.  At  that  period,  the  popu 
lation,  which  in  1785  had  amounted  to  eight  hundred  and 
forty-six,  was  estimated  at  only  five  hundred,  half  of  whom 
were  blacks.  In  December,  1819,  Mobile  was  incorporated 
as  a  city.  Mobile  is  now  a  city  of  moderate  size,  a  popula 
tion  of  probably  forty  thousand  inhabitants  and  before  the 
war  was  opulent  and  characterized  as  the  most  aristocratic 
city  of  the  South,  though  I  suppose  Charleston  would  dis 
pute,  or  rather  would  have  disputed,  this  point.  There  has 
evidently  been  a  lavish  display  of  money  and  many  of  the 
houses  and  public  buildings  are  elegant  and  tasteful  in  their 
style  arid  adornment.  The  luxuriance  of  vegetation  in  this 
climate  gives  great  advantages  in  the  adornment  of  the 


Letters  389 

streets  and  grounds  with  shade  trees  and  beautiful  shrubs, 
vines  and  flowers.  The  present  season  corresponds  with 
June  with  you,  and  to  me  it  was  a  rare  and  beautiful  sight 
yesterday  to  look  down  the  long  vista  of  ' '  Government ' ' 
street,  their  principal  avenue  through  the  aisle  of  magnolia 
in  full  leaf  and  bloom,  the  pride  of  China,  the  crape  myrtle 
and  many  other  trees,  the  names  of  which  I  do  not  know, 
but  all  laden  with  bud  and  leaf  and  flower  ;  while  in  relief, 
the  houses  were  wreathed  with  ivy,  climbing  roses,  while 
the  sweet-scented  double  violet  added  delicious  perfume  to 
the  fragrance  of  countless  varieties  of  standard  roses.  The 
people  have  great  taste  and  wonderful  love  for  flowers  in  the 
South  ;  even  the  ragged  urchins  and  barefooted  little  girls 
carry  bouquets  that  would  be  the  envy  of  a  ball-room  belle 
in  Cincinnati.  The  streets  are  very  broad,  and  have  been 
paved  with  shells,  but  the  sandy  nature  of  the  soil  has 
caused  them  to  disappear  beneath  the  surface.  The  side 
walks  are  brick,  as  in  Cincinnati.  The  city  was  like  a  city 
of  the  dead.  The  principal  men  being  in  the  army,  were 
either  prisoners  or  had  fled.  The  ladies  secluded  themselves 
from  the  public  gaze.  A  semi-official  notice  from  the  head 
quarters  of  the  rebel  General  Maury  had  warned  them  that 
General  Canbj^  had  promised  his  soldiers  three  days'  pil 
lage  ;  consequently,  the  people,  when  our  troops  took  pos 
session,  were  frightened  and  anticipated  all  sorts  of  enormi 
ties.  Since,  they  have  been  in  a  constant  state  of  profound 
astonishment.  The  drinking  houses  were  all  closed,  and  a 
rigid  system  of  discipline  has  been  enforced,  quiet  and  order 
prevails. 

While  in  Mobile,  I  was  the  guest  of  General  Canby,  who 
has  taken  quarters  at  one  of  the  best  houses.  I  met  there  in 
the  family  of  the  owner  a  fair  sample  of  the  young  and 
middle-aged  ladies  of  the  place,  and  the  schoolgirls. 

Everything  is  as  old-fashioned  as  four  years  non-inter 
course  with  the  ' '  outside  barbarians, ' '  as  they  would  style 
us,  would  be  apt  to  induce.  This  in  dress,  literature,  and 
conversation.  You  will  hear  that  there  is  Union  sentiment 


Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

in  Mobile,  perhaps  that  not  more  than  ten  per  cent,  of  its 
people  are  secessionists  ;  but  my  word  for  it,  that  not  a  man, 
woman,  or  child,  who  has  lived  in  Mobile  the  last  four  years, 
but  who  prays  death  and  destruction  to  the  * '  damned 
Yankees. ' ' 

Well,  I  have  given  you  a  birdseye  view  of  the  city.  If 
there  is  anything  more  you  want  to  know,  you  must  ask. 
In  case  anybody  should  ask  the  question,  you  may  say,  that 
there  were  taken  with  Mobile  upwards  of  thirty-five  thou 
sand  bales  of  cotton,  over  a  million  bushels  of  corn,  twenty 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  and  large  stores  of  tobacco.  I 
don't  think  that  mother,  for  some  time  hereafter,  will  be 
compelled  to  give  a  dollar  a  yard  for  domestics  and  double 
the  price  for  calico.  You  must  all  have  new  dresses.  I  am 
glad  to  get  back  from  Mobile  to  my  little  island.  There  the 
weather  was  warm  and  the  air  close  and  heavy,  here  I  have 
always  a  delicious  sea  breeze.  It  is  very  cool  and  pleasant. 
I  have  a  fine  hard  beach  as  level  as  your  parlor  floor,  upon 
which  I  can  ride  for  twenty  miles  and  see  the  great  ocean 
with  its  mighty  pulses  break  at  my  feet.  I  have  a  little  fleet 
of  boats;  one,  a  beautiful  steamer  called  the  Laura,  that  had 
been  built  by  the  rebels  as  a  blockade  runner,  as  quick  as 
lightning  and  elegantly  fitted  up,  was  sunk  a  day  or  two 
since  by  running  on  to  a  pile.  I  am  now  having  her 
raised  again.  I  have  also  a  beautiful  little  yacht,  a  light 
sailboat  rigged  as  a  sloop  with  one  mast  bowsprit  and  jib. 
She  sails  beautifully  on  the  wind  ;  is  large  enough  to  carry 
half  a  dozen  very  well.  I  have  just  had  her  elegantly 
painted,  and  one  of  my  officers  is  to-day  manufacturing  a 
streamer  for  her.  She  has  been  called  the  Vivian,  but  I  am 
going  to  change  her  name  and  rechristen  her  the  Bessie  and 
Belle.  When  I  get  a  little  more  leisure  I  shall  sail  in  her 
down  to  the  coral  reefs  and  fish  for  pompino,  sheepsheads 
and  poissons  rouge.  Oysters  now  are  going  out  of  season.  I 
am  told  they  eat  them  here  all  the  year  round,  but  to  my 
notion  they  are  becoming  milky.  I  shall  now  take  to  crabs 
and  fish.  I  have  been  keeping  Lent  admirably. 


Letters  391 

You  say  you  hope  ' '  peace  will  be  declared. ' '  I  should  be 
glad,  my  dear  daughter,  to  see  your  hopes  fulfilled  ;  but 
peace  will  be  long  coming  to  our  country  and  papa  ;  it  would 
do  to  dream  and  talk  of,  but  the  snake  is  only  scotched,  not 
killed.  Our  hope  may  rest  on  a  foreign  war,  and  to-day  I 
could  unite  many  of  our  enemies  to  march  with  us  under  the 
folds  of  our  own  starry  banner  to  fight  the  swarthy  Mexicans 
or  the  dull,  cold  Englishman,  but  without  this  event  we  must 
fight  on  among  ourselves  for  many  a  year  to  come.  God 
grant  our  jubilee  may  not  have  rung  out  too  soon.  How 
long  will  it  take  the  North  to  learn  the  South  ?  But  these 
are  questions,  my  dear  daughter,  not  for  your  consideration, 
yet,  at  least.  Study  your  books,  my  child,  and  learn  to 
love  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  and  when  you  pray, 
pray  first  for  wisdom  and  then  for  strength,  and  if  you 
want  your  prayers  answered,  study  your  books  and  go  about 
much  in  the  open  air. 

I  send  you  some  lines  you  may  put  away  in  your  scrap- 
book  and  when  you  get  to  be  an  old  lady  like  grandma,  and 
have  your  own  grandchildren  on  your  knee,  one  day  you 
may  get  out  the  old  battered  book  and  read  to  them  what 
your  father  sent  you  from  the  war. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  ALA.,  April  24,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

You  must  not  feel  vexed,  as  you  say  you  are,  in  reference 
to  Carr's  getting  my  command. 

The  rough  and  tumble  of  an  active  campaign  in  this  cli 
mate  at  this  season  of  the  year,  with  my  shattered  constitu 
tion,  would  be  fatal.  The  wear  and  tear  of  the  last  four  }rears 
has  told  upon  me,  and  I  am  constantly  warned  to  guard 
against  exposure.  Here  I  am  comparatively  comfortable, 
and  though  I  cannot  hope  while  exposed  to  the  baleful  influ 
ence  of  malaria  to  be  well,  I  may  ward  off  prostrating  sick 
ness.  So  that,  take  the  matter  in  all  its  bearings,  it  is 


392  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

probably  for  the  best  that  I  should  have  been  disposed  of  as 
I  am  for  the  present. 

You  say  in  reference  to  the  fall  of  Richmond  that  you 
4 '  cannot  but  feel  the  key  is  reached  and  rebellion  unsealed. ' ' 
It  may  be  that  it  is  unsealed  ;  but  it  is  not  yet  crushed,  and 
you  need  not  lay  the  flattering  unction  to  your  soul  that  peace 
is  at  hand,  or  that  the  rebellion  is  crushed.  I  notice  by  the 
Northern  papers  that  the  people  are  drunk  with  joy  and 
jubilee.  Instead  of  maintaining  a  quiet  dignity,  tumultuous 
pressure  has  been  made  to  grasp  the  enemy  by  the  hand  and 
to  kill  the  fatted  calf  and  welcome  the  prodigal  back.  The 
rebels  laugh  in  their  sleeves.  The  North  has  not  yet  learned 
how  to  make  war  upon  its  adversary.  But  I  don't  intend  to 
croak  or  play  the  bird  of  ill  omen  ;  the  signs  of  the  times  are 
pregnant  ;  millions  of  people  in  this  nation  are  going  up 
and  down  smarting  with  a  sense  of  personal  injury,  mourning 
brothers,  sons,  husbands,  fathers,  sweathearts  slain,  home 
steads  burned,  altars  desecrated,  property  destroyed.  There 
is  no  peace  with  these  in  this  generation.  In  my  judgment, 
there  is  just  one  hope  for  us  now,  and  that  is  a  war  with  a 
foreign  power  that  would  have  the  effect  of  uniting  the  bel 
ligerents.  I  have  now  prisoners  with  me,  three  generals  and 
their  staffs,  Liddell,  Cockrel,  and  Thomas.  I  guarantee  that 
I  can  enlist  all  or  the  major  part  of  them  to  go  with  me  to 
Mexico  or  Canada  to  fight  under  the  stars  and  stripes.  But 
they  won't  go  home  to  be  contented.  Neither  men  nor 
women  will  consent  to  go  back  to  ruined  plantations,  de 
populated  cities,  abandoned  villages,  and,  without  the  aid 
of  the  peculiar  institution,  essay  to  rebuild,  reconquer  the 
wilderness,  recreate  a  fortune  without  grumbling,  and  the 
bitterness  of  spirit  will  soon  find  occasion  for  fresh  outbreak. 

HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 

FORT  GAINES,  April  29,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

Your  very  interesting  and  affectionate  letter  of  23d  March, 
apprising  me  of  your  safe  arrival  at  home  and  of  your  adven 
tures  by  the  way,  was  received. 


Letters 


393 


Truly,  you  passed  through  great  peril  and  vicissitude,  and 
are  now  prepared  to  somewhat  appreciate  my  life  upon  the 
road  for  the  past  four  years.  We  feel  called  upon  to  thank 
God  whenever  we  graze  a  great  danger,  that  is  visible  and 
tangible,  forgetful  that  the  same  care  is  constantly  over  us, 
in  the  unseen  and  impalpable  peril  in  which  we  always  move. 
But  it  is  well  with  us  occasionally  to  look  danger  in  the  face, 
that  we  may  form  the  proper  estimate  of  our  weakness  and 
frailty,  eliminated  from  God's  care,  while  we  learn  that  with 
out  danger  there  is  no  greatness,  that  in  the  hazardous  con 
flicts  where  life  is  ventured,  high  qualities  only  are  developed. 

What  canting  nonsense  do  we  occasionally  hear  in  certain 
quarters  to  disparage  mere  personal  courage,  ' '  mere  personal 
courage  !  "  We  are  reminded  that  the  ignoble  quality  is 
held  in  common  with  the  bulldog,  and  that  in  this  essential 
he  is  our  master  ;  we  are  reminded  that  it  is  a  low  and  vul 
gar  attribute,  that  neither  elevates  nor  enlightens,  that  the 
meanest  creatures  are  often  gifted  with  it,  and  the  noblest 
natures  void  of  it.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  without  it, 
there  is  neither  truth  nor  manliness.  The  self-reliance  that 
makes  a  man  maintain  his  word,  be  faithful  to  his  friendship, 
and  honorable  in  his  dealings,  has  no  root  in  a  heart  that 
shakes  with  craven  fear.  The  life  of  a  coward  is  the  voyage 
of  a  ship  with  a  leak,  eternal  contrivance,  never-ceasing 
emergency.  All  thoughts  dashed  with  a  perpetual  fear  of 
death,  what  room  is  there  for  one  generous  emotion,  one  great 
or  high-hearted  ambition.  I  congratulate  you  that  in  the 
presence  of  danger,  you  were  not  frightened,  that  you  did 
not  lose  your  presence  of  mind,  but  felt  able  to  put  forth 
your  best  powers  for  the  emergency  that  might  have  been 
near. 


There  is  very  little  in  my  life  here  now,  that  is  of  sufficient 
importance  to  entertain  you  in  detail.  It  is  five  days  since 
I  have  had  news  from  the  outside  world,  and  I  hardly  know 
whether  we  have  war  or  peace  in  the  land.  My  health  is 
pretty  good  and  I  am  perfectly  comfortable,  so  far  as  shelter, 
food  and  raiment  can  make  me  comfortable.  I  have  abun- 


394  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

dance  of  fish,  flesh,  and  fowl,  and  plenty  of  whiskey,  brandy, 
wine  and  ale,  though  I  am  making  very  sparing  use  of  any 
kind  of  stimulants.  I  have  had  some  fine  birds,  snipe,  peep, 
plover,  and  a  splendid  shore  bird,  the  "  sickle  billed  curlew," 
as  large  as  a  barnyard  fowl.  Mother  will  remember  father's 
often  speaking  of  them.  I  miss  my  family,  and  continually 
regret  that  I  had  not  kept  you  and  Walter  with  me,  for  up 
to  this  time  I  could  have  made  life  here  for  you  very  agree 
able.  Here  I  find  myself  using  the  word  ' '  regret ' '  again, 
when  I  well  know,  humanly  speaking,  it  is  better  as  it  is. 
Yet,  philosophize  as  I  will,  comes  that  increasing,  unwearied 
desire,  that  is  with  us  in  joy  or  sadness,  that  journeys  with 
us  and  lives  with  us  mingling  with  every  action,  blending 
with  every  thought,  and  presenting  to  our  minds  a  constant 
picture  of  ourselves,  under  some  wished-for  aspect,  different 
from  all  we  have  ever  known,  when  we  are  surrounded  by 
other  impulses  and  swayed  by  other  passions.  ' '  Man  never 
is  but  always  to  be  blessed." 

The  weather  has  been  delightfully  pleasant,  an  occasional 
storm  and  one  or  two  sultry  days,  but  I  have  not  been  called 
upon  to  dispense  with  winter  garments  and  sleep  comfortably 
under  two  blankets.  The  sea  breeze  is  always  fresh,  and  it 
is  charming  in  the  evening  to  ride  upon  the  hard  and  per 
fectly  level  beach  and  see  the  breakers  dash  in  surf  and 
foam  on  the  shore.  The  air  then  becomes  perfectly  pure 
from  the  ocean  and  is  wonderfully  exhilarating.  The  horses 
become  so  much  excited  as  to  be  difficult  of  control,  and  the 
Captain,  the  best  broken  horse  of  the  times,  has  frequently 
become  with  me  wholly  unmanageable.  You  would  be 
amused  to  see  him  capriole  and  play  with  the  waves,  dash 
ing  close  to  the  brink  as  they  recede  and  advance,  and  re 
joicing  in  the  cool  spray.  But  everything  about  me  is  con 
stantly  damp.  My  arms  always  rusty,  my  buttons  dimmed 
and  black,  and  the  paper  on  which  I  write  almost  as  wet  as 
if  it  had  passed  through  the  water.  I  believe  this  climate 
would  be  favorable  to  persons  with  pulmonary  complaints. 
I  have  been  a  good  deal  exposed,  but  never  take  cold,  or  if 
I  do,  it  does  not  make  itself  apparent  by  sore  throat,  cough, 
sneezing,  or  anything  of  that  kind.  At  the  same  time  I 


Letters  395 

must  say  that  the  atmosphere  is  undoubtedly  malarial  and 
no  science  or  skill  can  guard  against  malaria. 


Intelligence  now  comes  that  the  rebel  General  Dick  Taylor 
has  asked  terms  of  surrender,  and  that  General  Canby  has 
this  day  gone  to  arrange,  also  that  General  Hurlbut  has 
gone  on  a  mission  to  Kirby  Smith.  So  that  this  department 
is  fast  winding  up  the  rebellion  in  this  quarter. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  AI<A.,  April  26,  1865. 

I  had  somewhat  of  an  adventure  yesterday,  and  came  near 
imitating  the  wise  men  of  Gotham  who  went  to  sea  in  a  bowl. 
I  have  a  pretty  little  sailboat  with  capacity  for  four  or  five 
people,  and  the  day  being  fair  and  the  sea  smooth,  I  con 
cluded  to  go  over  to  Sand  Island,  distant  four  or  five  miles 
from  here,  just  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  With  my  adjutant 
and  a  crew  of  two  sailors,  I  set  sail  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  with  a  favoring  breeze  soon  made  my  point  of 
destination.  Anchoring  my  little  ship,  I  went  ashore,  made 
examination  of  the  lighthouse,  and  after  a  stroll  upon  the 
beach,  it  being  near  noon,  made  preparations  to  return  ;  but 
no  sooner  had  I  weighed  anchor  than  I  discovered  the  wind 
was  dead  ahead  and  a  strong  tide  was  beating  out  to  sea. 
Nevertheless,  I  spread  my  sail,  and  by  tacking  to  and  fro, 
sought  to  beat  up  against  wind  and  tide  ;  in  this  endeavor 
we  rounded  the  point  of  the  island,  and,  to  the  dismay  of 
my  crew,  soon  discovered  we  were  drifting  out  to  sea  ;  for 
tunately,  we  at  this  time  had  not  got  quite  into  the  channel, 
and  by  bending  on  all  the  spare  rope  to  our  anchor  cable, 
were  able  to  touch  bottom  and  ride  in  safety.  It  was  now 
three  o'clock,  and  I  determined  to  lie  down  and  get  a  nap, 
hoping  that  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two,  the  tide,  which 
was  rushing  past  us  at  the  rate  of  six  miles  an  hour,  would 
turn,  and  that,  by  the  help  of  a  breeze,  we  would  be  able  to 
turn  the  point.  I  slept  a  couple  of  hours,  pleasantly  rocked 
by  the  swell  of  the  waves,  but  woke  to  find  my  hopes  disap- 


396  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

pointed.  The  tide  was  rushing  by  more  furiously  than  ever, 
the  wind  had  died  away,  and  to  make  matters  worse,  our 
anchor  was  dragging,  and  we  were  rapidly  going  to  sea. 
We  had  had  no  food  or  water  since  breakfast,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  eat  or  drink  on  board.  We  had  no  compass,  and 
as  the  lighthouse  began  to  sink  below  the  horizon,  and  the 
pine  trees  grow  dim  in  the  rays  of  the  declining  sun,  the 
prospect  was  anything  but  encouraging.  But  hope  came  to 
us  in  the  shape  of  a  tug,  that  was  towing  a  large  schooner 
out  through  the  channel.  We  watched  her  with  anxious 
eyes,  till  she  had  taken  the  ship  to  the  offing,  and  then 
turned  to  go  back  to  the  bay.  She  passed  within  some  three 
miles  of  us,  and  we  made  signal  with  our  white  handker 
chiefs  displayed  from  the  top  of  our  little  mast,  but  in  vain. 
She  steamed  along  regardless  of  our  motions  and  went  back 
to  the  bay.  That  hope  was  gone,  and  remembering  the  story 
of  the  Irish  pilot,  who  followed  the  big  ship  night  and  day, 
till  he  had  crossed  the  ocean,  I  determined  to  keep  the 
schooner  in  sight  as  long  as  I  could,  and  to  that  end  spread 
sail  and  endeavored  to  get  into  her  wake.  But  in  vain  ;  the 
wind  would  not  blow,  and  the  sail  flapped  limp.  We  got 
just  headway  enough  to  throw  us  into  the  channel  and  sped 
along  towards  the  Atlantic  Ocean  about  as  fast  as  a  horse 
could  trot.  Our  situation  was  not  enviable  ;  we  were  out  of 
the  bay,  fairly  in  the  gulf,  and  the  heavy  rollers  of  the  ocean 
tossed  our  frail  little  bark  like  an  egg  shell.  We  had  to  sit 
steady  to  keep  her  trimmed,  and  feared  that  if  the  wind  we 
had  prayed  for  an  hour  before  came,  we  should  be  capsized, 
for  she  was  flat-bottomed,  and  not  in  ballast.  However,  I 
kept  a  stiff  upper  lip,  and  directly,  when  hope  had  almost 
fled,  discovered  the  tug  again  steaming  down,  towing  a  large 
ship.  We  now  made  every  effort  to  throw  ourselves  across 
her  forefoot,  and  not  caring  so  much  about  drifting  to  sea, 
as  to  so  change  our  course  that  we  might  get  within  signal 
distance,  succeeded  in  making  some  way  towards  the  ap 
proaching  vessels,  but  again  the  tug  cast  off  and  returned  as 
before.  Now  was  really  an  anxious  moment  ;  one  handker 
chief  was  displayed  at  the  masthead,  the  other  I  made  the 
adjutant  wave,  standing  in  the  prow.  The  pilot  of  the  tug 


Letters  397 

saw  us,  rounded  to,  and  in  a  few  moments  I  was  aboard  and 
my  little  vessel  towed  astern.  We  were  picked  up  ten  miles 
below  Sand  Island,  and  fairly  out  to  sea,  and,  as  we  have 
been  informed  since,  in  a  channel  that  has  hurried  more  than 
one  little  craft  to  destruction.  Not  long  since  two  profes 
sional  pilots  were  drawn  into  and  carried  out  to  perish.  But 
as  we  say,  ' '  a  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile, ' '  only  that  the  next 
time  I  go  to  sea  I  shall  take  some  grub  and  some  water  and 
a  compass,  and  ' '  if  the  court  know  herself,  as  she  think  she 
do,"  I  shall  hardly  venture  in  a  craft  not  much  bigger  than 
a  washing  tub.  One  is  never  out  of  danger  in  this  world. 
The  other  day  I  was  riding  the  colt,  who  was  fractious,  and 
cavorting  around  with  me,  jumped  into  a  well  ;  he  succeeded 
in  struggling  out  before  he  had  reached  the  bottom,  and  fell 
heavily  on  his  side  with  my  right  leg  under  him  ;  of  course, 
people  thought  my  leg  was  broken,  and  that  the  beast  would 
roll  over  upon  me,  but  he  did  n't,  and  the  leg  was  only 
bruised. 

So  I  have  had  two  more  warnings  that  man  is  mortal,  that 
as  to  circumstances  and  events  he  is  like  a  thistledown  wafted 
upon  the  autumn  breeze,  that  a  day,  an  hour,  nay,  the  pass 
ing  moment,  may  terminate  his  earthly  existence  ;  that, 
without  note  or  warning,  he  may  be  summoned  to  the 
presence  of  his  Maker,  to  the  report  of  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body. 


MOBILE,  AivA.,  May  17,  1865. 
MY  DKAR  WIFE  : 


We  have  news  this  morning  that  Jeff  Davis  has  been  ar 
rested  and  sent  to  Washington  under  guard.  It  remains  to 
be  seen  if  Johnson  has  the  grit  to  put  him  through,  or  if  he 
is  not  made  a  lion  and  a  martyr  of,  and  permitted  to  go  scot 
free. 

I  have  been  for  a  few  days  past,  and  still  am,  a  very 
favored  guest  of  Madame  Octavia  Walton  LeVert,  who  has 


398  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

been  more  kind  to  me  than  words  can  tell.  She  has  been 
friend,  mother,  most  delightful  companion  to  me.  A  very 
noble  woman,  she  fully  deserves  the  splendid  encomiums 
that  have  been  so  freely  lavished  upon  her  at  home  and 
abroad.  I  have  forgotten  if  before  I  have  alluded  to  her 
history,  that,  perhaps,  you  are  familiar  with  ;  even  if  such 
is  the  case,  it  will  do  no  harm  to  again  advert  more  particu 
larly  to  your  husband's  friend.  I  have  been  somewhat  of 
an  invalid,  and  she  has  nursed  me,  and  been  so  sweetly 
kind  to  me,  that  I  can  hardly  write  too  much  about  her.  So 
I  shall  make  no  excuse  for  quoting  very  freely  from  a  grace 
ful  biographical  sketch  of  her  history  by  Mary  Forrest,  who 
edited  the  Women  of  the  South,  among  whom  she  ranks  her 
as  prima  donna.  Frederica  Bremer  calls  her  the  "  sweet 
rose  of  Florida,"  and  she  certainly  is  a  rose  that  all  are 
praising.  George  Walton,  her  grandfather,  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  wounded  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment  at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  was  a 
member  of  Congress  (the  first  convened  at  Philadelphia),  and 
afterwards  held  successively  the  offices  of  Governor  of 
Georgia  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  married  Miss 
Camber,  the  daughter  of  an  English  nobleman,  a  short  time 
before  the  Revolution.  Madame  L,eVert  has  now  in  her  pos 
session  many  letters  addressed  to  Colonel  Walton  by  General 
Washington,  Lafayette,  the  elder  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  other 
noted  men  of  those  days,  expressive  of  their  high  confidence 
and  regard. 

George  Walton,  the  second,  married  Miss  Sally  Walker, 
the  daughter  of  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Georgia.  In  1812,  he 
became  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  Georgia.  In  1821,  he 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  under  General  Jackson, 
then  Governor  of  Florida,  and,  when  the  old  chief  retired  to 
the  "  Hermitage,"  succeeded  him  in  office.  He  was  himself 
succeeded  by  our  old  friend  of  Washington  memory,  Gover 
nor  Duval  .  .  .  whom  you  doubtless  remember.  Here 
I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  par  parcnthcse,  that  as  a  high 
compliment  and  one  accorded  to  but  few  guests,  I  have  been 
assigned  to  what  was  the  private  chamber  of  Mrs.  Walton, 
and  have  been  sleeping  upon  a  bed  and  bedstead  upon  which 


Letters  399 

General  Jackson  slept  for  years,  and  which,  as  a  precious 
relic,  was  presented  to  Mrs.  Walton  by  General  Jackson 
while  he  was  President. 

Octavia  Walton  was  born  at  Bellevue,  near  Augusta,  Geor 
gia,  but  her  parents,  moving  soon  after  to  Florida,  her  first 
memories  are  of  the  sunshine  and  flowers  of  Pensacola,  in  her 
own  vivid  words  ' '  of  the  orange  and  live-oak  trees,  shading 
the  broad  veranda  ;  of  the  fragrant  acacia,  oleander,  and  Cape 
jasmine  trees,  which  filled  the  parterre  sloping  down  to  the 
sea  beach  ;  of  merry  races  with  my  brother  along  the  white 
sands,  while  the  creamy  waves  broke  over  my  feet  and  the 
delicious  breeze  from  the  gulf  played  in  my  hair,  and  of  the 
pet  mocking-birds  in  the  giant  old  oak  by  my  window,  whose 
songs  called  me  each  morning  from  dreamland." 

I  quote  now  from  my  authoress.  Pensacola,  situated  on  a 
noble  bay,  was  the  rendezvous  of  the  United  States  vessels  of 
the  Gulf  Station.  It  was  a  gala  time  when  they  returned 
from  their  cruises  ;  balls  and  parties  at  the  governor's 
house  ;  splendid  entertainments  on  board  the  ships  ;  moon 
light  excursions  upon  the  bay,  and  pic-nics  in  the  magnolia 
groves.  The  well-educated  and  chivalric  officers  were  a  large 
element  in  the  society  to  which  our  author  was  thus  early 
accustomed  ;  and  while  yet  a  child  she  had  little  to  learn  in 
the  way  of  drawing-room  ease  and  elegance. 

Amid  such  scenes  her  receptive  nature  seems  to  have 
absorbed  that  tropical  exuberance  of  thought,  feeling,  lan 
guage,  and  presence,  which  has  made  her  name  famous  ; 
while  at  the  same  time,  an  early  and  close  relation  with 
nature,  in  one  of  her  most  tender  and  bounteous  aspects, 
preserved  intact  amid  all  precocious  tendencies,  the  naive 
simplicity  of  the  child,  which  is  to  this  day  her  crowning 
grace. 

Before  the  age  of  twelve  years,  she  could  write  and  con 
verse  in  three  languages  with  facility.  So  unusual  was  her 
talent  as  a  linguist,  that  it  was  the  custom  of  her  father  to 
take  her  to  his  office  to  translate  from  the  French  or  Spanish 
the  most  important  letters  connected  with  affairs  of  state. 
There,  perched  upon  a  high  stool,  (she  was  too  tiny  in  stat 
ure  to  be  made  available  otherwise),  she  would  interpret  with 


400  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  greatest  ease  and  correctness,  the  tenor  and  spirit  of  for 
eign  despatches,  proving  herself  thus  early,  quite  worthy  of 
her  illustrious  descent. 

During  her  father's  administration  as  Governor  of  Florida, 
he  located  the  seat  of  government,  and,  at  the  request  of  his 
little  daughter  Octavia,  called  it  by  the  Indian  name  of 
"Tallahassee."  Its  signification,  "beautiful  land,"  fell 
musically  upon  the  ear  of  the  imaginative  child  ;  she  was 
greatly  interested,  too,  in  the  old  Seminole  King  Mamashla, 
who,  in  the  days  of  his  power,  struck  his  tent-pole  in  that 
ground,  made  it  his  resting-place,  and  called  it  first  by  this 
sweet  name.  The  chief  grew  fond  of  her,  and  she  was 
known  in  his  tribe  as  "  the  White  Dove  of  Peace." 

Octavia  was  never  placed  within  the  walls  of  a  schoolroom. 
Her  mother  and  grandmother,  both  women  of  intellect  and 
cultivation,  vied  with  each  other  in  developing  her  earlier 
mental  life,  and  private  tutors  were  provided  to  meet  the 
needs  of  her  advance. 

When  she  first  was  presented  to  General  Lafayette,  a  long 
and  interesting  interview  ensued ;  the  young  Octavia,  seated 
upon  the  knee  of  the  old  hero,  holding  him  spellbound  with 
her  piquant  and  fluent  use  of  his  native  tongue.  He  then 
folded  her  to  his  heart,  and  blessed  her  fervently,  remarking 
to  one  of  the  committee,  as  she  left  the  room,  a  ' '  truly  won 
derful  child,  she  has  been  conversing  all  this  while,  with  in 
tellect  and  tact,  in  the  purest  French.  I  predict  for  her  a 
brilliant  career. ' '  Oracular  words,  which  the  record  of  years 
have  more  than  .confirmed.  But  Octavia  Walton  did  not  sit 
passively  down  to  await  the  fulfillment  of  Lafayette's  proph 
ecy.  One  great  secret  of  her  life  lies  in  her  indefatigable 
industry.  Only  by  close  application  has  she  taken  the  true 
gauge  of  herself ;  brought  into  view  every  resource  ;  into 
play  every  faculty  ;  only  thus  has  she  become  acquainted 
with  classical  and  scientific  studies,  made  herself  mistress  of 
many  languages,  a  proficient  in  music,  an  eloquent  conver 
sationalist,  and  a  ready  writer  ;  and  by  a  no  less  fine  and 
careful  culture,  has  she  been  able  in  every  phase  of  her  life 
to  evolve  only  light  and  warmth  from  her  large  human 
heart  ;  to  bring  to  the  surface  the  best  qualities  of  all  who 


Letters  401 

come  within  her  influence  ;  to  charm  away  distraction,  and 
to  preserve,  apart  from  her  world  woman  aspect  a  child  na 
ture  as  pure  and  undimmed  as  a  pearl  in  the  sea. 

.  .  .  In  1836  she  married  Dr.  Henry  Le  Vert  of 
Mobile,  a  man  noted  equally  for  his  professional  skill  and 
high  moral  worth.  His  father  was  a  native  of  France,  and 
came  to  America  with  L,afayette.  .  .  .  Frederica  Bremer 
says  of  her  : 

11  It  is  so  strange  that  that  little  worldly  lady,  whom  I 
have  heard  spoken  of  as  a  belle,  and  as  a  most  splendid  orna 
ment  of  society,  wherever  she  went,  has  yet  become  almost 
as  dear  to  me  as  a  young  sister.  But  she  has  become  so 
from  being  so  excellent,  because  she  has  suffered  much,  and 
because,  under  a  worldly  exterior,  there  is  an  unusually  sound 
and  pure  intellect,  and  a  heart  full  of  affection,  which  can 
cast  aside  all  the  vanities  of  the  world  for  the  power  of  grati 
fying  those  whom  she  loves.  This  fair  daughter  of  Florida, 
is  surrounded  by  a  circle  of  relatives  who  seem  to  regard  her 
as  the  apple  of  their  eye, ' '  etc. 

What  I  have  hastily  written  and  more  hastily  selected, 
may  serve  to  give  you  some  faint  idea  of  this  most  charming 
lady.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  sensible,  well-educated 
sweet  woman  for  one's  friend,  and  I  thank  God,  who  has 
vouchsafed  to  me  one  or  two  such  in  the  course  of  my 
pilgrimage. 

I  enclose  a  sketch  of  my  friend  Ransom,  of  whom  I  have 
written  and  spoken  to  you.  I  fear  I  weary  you  with  long 
letters.  I  shall  return  to  Fort  Gaines  to-morrow  or  next 
day.  I  am  not  very  well.  That  terrible  diarrhoea  hangs 
on  and  will  not  give  me  rest.  I  shall  never  recover  from 
that  disease,  which  will  only  be  temporarily  palliated  or  re 
lieved,  and  I  shall  pray  to  God  to  let  me  die  at  home. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  SOUTH  ALABAMA, 
FORT  GAINES,  AI,A.,  May  26,  1865. 

You  had  received  my  recountal  of  our  narrow  escape  from 
perishing  at  sea.     The  varied  experience  of  the  past  few 
years  has  showed  me  the  uncertainty  of  human  life.     ' '  We 
26 


4O2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

are  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made  of,  and  our  little  life  is 
rounded  with  a  sleep."  I  often  wish  you  were  with  me 
here,  that  you  might  have  leisure  for  reflection,  and  oppor 
tunity  to  study  the  wonders  of  the  deep,  the  great  sea,  fitting 
emblem  of  eternity.  To  watch  with  me  the  changes  on  its 
surface,  now  dimpled  and  glittering  in  the  sunlight,  then 
glassy  as  a  mirror,  reflecting  the  bright  moon,  or  by  starlight 
lambent  with  phosphorescent  glare ;  and  again  maddened  by 
the  wind,  tossing  and  roaring  and  foaming  with  rage.  To 
see  the  sun  rise  from  the  ocean  in  the  morning  and  set  be 
neath  its  waters  at  eve  ;  to  see  the  sweet  sight  of  "  sunset 
sailing  ships,"  to  wander  by  the  shore  and  watch  the  graceful 
seabirds  dip  their  wings.  Nothing  that  poet  has  written  or 
traveller  described,  can  give  to  the  mind  an  idea  of  the  heart 
emotions  awakened  by  the  ocean,  whether  in  repose  or  agi 
tated  by  storm.  I  am  never  weary  of  it,  or  the  southern 
gales  that  sweep  its  bosom.  You  remember  old  Governor 
Dtival's  description  of  the  breeze  at  Pensacola.  How  its  in 
fluence  made  one  dream  of  "  bathing  in  a  sea  of  peacock's 
plumes."  Here  you  can  realize  how  graphic  was  his  de 
scription.  The  weather  is  perfectly  delicious  ;  you  never 
saw  so  blue  a  sky.  In  the  early  morning  it  is  hot,  but  about 
ten  o'clock  the  sea  breeze  springs  up  and  sitting  in  the  shade 
you  have  nothing  in  the  way  of  atmosphere  to  desire.  My 
house  is  favorably  situated  close  to  the  beach,  or  rather  on 
the  beach,  close  to  the  water's  edge,  so  close  that  the  spray 
of  the  waves  sometimes  falls  in  light  mist  on  my  brow,  as  I 
sit  on  the  long  and  wide  piazza,  facing  due  east.  Here  I 
linger  far  into  the  night,  sometimes  till  the  early  morning, 
watching  the  stars  and  chewing  the  cud  of  sweet  and  bitter 
fancy,  with  nothing  to  break  the  silence  but  the  tread  of  the 
sentry  and  the  splash  of  the  waves,  drinking  in  deep  draughts 
of  night  air  that  give  no  cold.  They  tell  me  the  coming 
months  are  hot,  and  the  mosquitoes  troublesome.  I  know  not 
how  that  may  be  ;  the  present  is  the  perfection  of  climate, 
and  I  wish  you  could  enjoy  it  with  me.  My  health  is  im 
proving.  I  am  taking  iron  and  quinine,  and  within  a  few 
days  my  disease  seems  brought  under  subjection. 


Letters  403 

It  is  strange  that  as  I  have  been  writing  and  endeavoring 
to  moralize  upon  the  uncertainty  of  human  life  and  the  futility 
of  human  plans,  another  and  terrible  lesson  has  been  read 
to  me.  Yesterday,  while  writing  to  Walter  my  house  was 
shaken  by  a  tremendous  explosion,  that  I  supposed  to  be  a 
clap  of  thunder,  though  the  sky  was  clear.  I  called  to  "  J. 
L- "  1  to  know  if  any  of  the  guns  at  the  fort  had  been  dis 
charged  ;  he  said  no,  but  thought  one  of  the  ' '  men-of-war  ' ' 
in  the  offing  had  fired  a  gun.  I  thought  it  rather  strange, 
it  being  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  At  night,  I  dis 
covered  a  bright  light  in  the  north  and  feared  for  a  while 
that  a  steamboat  was  on  fire  ;  but  just  at  this  moment  the 
mystery  has  been  solved  by  the  intelligence  brought  me  that 
the  magazines  at  Mobile  have  been  blown  up,  half  the  city 
destroyed,  thousands  of  lives  lost,  and  a  scene  of  misery  and 
destruction  terrible  to  imagine.  I  shall  cease  writing  now 
and  close  my  letter  by  giving  you  full  particulars,  as  they 
will  be  brought  me  by  the  next  boat.  Truly  in  life  we  are 
in  death.  Thousands  of  soldiers  and  refugees,  women  and 
children,  have  been  hurried  to  eternity  without  warning,  and 
many  hundreds  of  mangled  and  wounded  are  craving  death 
to  relieve  them  from  misery, 

Saturday,  May  2 7th. 

Enclosed  herewith  I  hand  you  the  only  copy  of  Mobile 
paper  I  can  procure  ;  the  details  therein  will  be  sufficient 
without  further  comment  from  me.  To-day  is  deliciously 
cool,  too  cool  for  comfort  without  woollen  clothes.  My  little 
boat  has  just  arrived,  bringing  me  cargo  of  chickens,  green 
peas,  string  beans,  cucumbers,  blackberries,  sweet  potatoes, 
and  peanuts,  with  beautiful  bouquets  sent  to  me  from  Mount 
Louis  Island,  a  blossom  or  two  you  will  find  pressed. 

I  cannot  say  what  my  future  will  be,  a  resignation  would 

not  be  accepted,  inasmuch  as  I  have  a  full  major-general's 

command,  and  I  am  in  uncertainty  as  to  the  day  or  hour 

when  I  may  be  mustered  out,  or  ordered  hence  to  another 

1  His  orderly. 


404  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

field.  It  is  only  left  to  me  to  be  patient  to  the  bitter  end. 
There  is  a  growing  disposition  through  many  parts  of  the 
country  to  pay  more  honor  to  the  base  rebels  who  have  been 
conquered  in  their  efforts  to  overthrow  the  best  government 
in  the  world  than  to  the  brave  defenders  of  their  flag.  It 
will  not  be  long  before  the  United  States  uniforms  will  cease 
to  be  a  badge  of  honor.  How  base  the  treatment  of  Sher 
man,  how  nobly  he  has  emerged  from  the  fiery  furnace.  I 
dare  not  trust  myself  in  speculation  upon  passing  events,  or 
anticipation  of  the  future. 

I  rejoice  to  note  by  the  price  current  that  most  of  the 
staples  of  life  are  largely  reduced  in  value  ;  corn,  oats,  flour, 
etc.  You  will  now  be  able  to  make  your  dollar  purchase 
pretty  nearly  a  dollar's  worth,  and  thus  your  income  be 
virtually  increased. 

I  am  not  much  in  the  habit  of  telling  dreams,  and  there  is 
no  Joseph  to  interpret  ;  but  three  that  have  been  lately 
dreamed,  are  so  peculiar  in  connection  with  passing  events, 
that,  without  giving  them  in  full  detail,  I  will  let  you  have 
the  outline.  The  first  dream  I  dreamed  myself  about  the 
time  of  the  assassination  of  the  President,  and  it  was  to  this 
effect  ;  that  General  Canby  sent  for  me  to  be  the  bearer  of 
despatches  to  President  Lincoln,  and  that  I  went  to  heaven 
to  deliver  the  despatches.  You  will  naturally  ask  how 
heaven  appeared  to  me  in  my  dream.  I  can  only  give  you 
a  vague  idea  of  my  impressions.  The  scene  was  a  spacious 
apartment  something  like  the  East  Room  of  the  White 
House  ;  but  vast  with  shadowy  pillars  and  recesses  and  one 
end  opening  into  space  skyward,  and  by  fleecy  clouds  made 
dim  and  obscure,  just  visible,  with  a  shining  radiance  far 
away  in  the  perspective,  farther  away  than  the  sun  or  stars 
appear  to  us.  I  have  no  remembrance  of  my  interview,  but 
a  clear  recollection  of  my  sensations  that  were  those  of  per 
fect  happiness,  such  as  I  have  never  had  waking  or  dreaming. 
I  would  not  tell  this  dream  to  anyone,  till  some  weeks  after 
wards  the  Provost  Marshal  of  my  staff  told  me  of  a  strange 
dream  in  which  he  had  awakened  the  night  before,  and  that 
had  made  a  serious  impression  on  his  mind.  The  scene  of 


Letters  405 

his  vision  was  laid  at  Carrollton,  near  New  Orleans.  I  was 
standing  surrounded  by  my  staff,  Jemmy  Sherer  and  Joe, 
when  a  man  approached  and  asked  me  to  retire  to  the  back 
yard  on  plea  of  private  and  important  business.  I  walked 
out  with  him  and  a  moment  after  a  rebel  officer  followed  us, 
with  his  hand  upon  a  pistol,  partially  concealed  in  his  breast. 
Mrs.  Stone,  the  wife  of  my  Inspector-General,  called  the 
attention  of  the  dreamer  to  this  fact,  with  a  solemn  warning 
that  I  was  about  to  be  assassinated.  He  at  once  sprang  to 
the  door  for  the  guard,  and  perceiving  an  officer  in  command 
of  an  escort  approaching,  called  halt,  that  from  him  he  might 
procure  the  guard,  but  as  he  neared,  discovered  he  was  es 
corting  a  long  funeral  procession  of  mourners  clad  in  white, 
in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  hearse  with  towering  white 
plumes.  A  colloquy  and  quarrel  ensued,  and  pending  the 
denouement  he  awoke.  He  told  his  dream  to  me,  and  on 
the  instant,  my  own  being  recalled  to  mind,  I  told  him 
mine,  but  neither  of  us  mentioned  the  matter  to  others. 
Lastly,  the  Adjutant,  Captain  Wetmore,  had  his  dream. 
The  march  and  the  battle,  and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
campaign,  in  the  rapid  kaleidoscope  of  thought,  had  passed 
through  his  brain,  when  at  last  Jeff  Davis  appeared,  a  cap 
tured  prisoner,  then  he  was  indicted,  tried,  and  convicted, 
all  in  due  course,  and  finally  the  sentence,  that  he  be  ban 
ished  to  ' '  Australia  ' '  for  twenty  years,  provided  the  consent 
of  the  British  government  could  be  obtained  thereto. 

These  dreams  were  all  vivid  and  interesting  in  detail,  the 
last  the  most  sensible  of  the  three,  and  certainly  as  easy  of 
interpretation  as  those  of  the  butler  and  the  baker  of  the 
King  of  Kgypt.  Yet  they  only  serve  to  remind  us  of  the 
words  of  him,  who  wrote  as  never  man  wrote,  who  knew  the 
human  heart,  and  springs  to  human  action,  and  the  world, 
and  all  its  contents,  better  than  anyone  on  earth, 

"All  Spirits, 

And  are  melted  into  air,  iiito  thin  air  ; 
And,  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision, 
The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve  ; 


406  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded, 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind  :  We  are  such  stuff 
As  dreams  are  made  of,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep.     .     .     ." 

My  next  letter  will  be  dated  from  New  Orleans,  events 
transpiring,  foreshadow  niy  early  departure  from  my  head 
quarters  at  Dauphine  Island,  to  which  I  have  become  a  good 
deal  attached.  I  have  had  some  lonely  hours  on  its  shores, 
but  the  waves  have  made  sweet  music  in  my  ears. 

I  have  some  fresh  accounts  of  the  horrid  accident  at  Mobile ; 
language  fails  to  do  justice  to  the  terrors  of  the  scene.  The 
professional  sensation  writers  will  fill  the  columns  of  the 
daily  press  with  details,  and  I  will  not  attempt  to  harrow  up 
your  soul  with  my  tame  pen. 


MOBILE,  ALA.,  June  7,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 


My  time  is  much  occupied.  Judge  Chase  has  just  left  us, 
and  to-day  we  have  the  famous  Phil.  Sheridan.  I  have  been 
going  about  with  him  all  day,  and  entertained  General  Price 
of  his  suite  at  dinner.  The  weather  is  intensely  hot,  but 
my  health  is  at  least  as  good  as  usual,  that  is  not  saying 
much  for  me. 


HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  OF  MOBILE, 

June  15,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

A  very  handsome  position  and  one  of  the  most  powerful, 
in  the  event  of  foreign  war,  that  is  probable,  has  been  ten 
dered  me,  that  of  Provost  Marshal  General,  for  the  whole 
Western  Department,  including  Texas  and  New  Mexico, 
has  been  offered  and  urged  upon  me,  but  General  Canby 
has  been  anxious  to  place  me  in  command  of  this,  the  most 
important  district  of  the  South.  I  have  yielded  to  him,  for 
two  considerations,  first,  I  shall  be  nearer  my  family,  some 
members  of  whom  I  shall  be  able  to  see  in  the  autumn,  if 


Letters  407 

my  life  is  spared,  and  secondly,  because  I  have  some  political 
aspirations  that  may  be  rendered  tangible,  perhaps  better 
from  this  point  than  any  other,  this,  of  course,  depends  upon 
the  future  aspect  of  our  foreign  relations.  These  two  con 
siderations  are  selfish  ;  after  these  I  feel  I  can,  perhaps,  do 
my  duty  to  my  Government  as  well,  or  perhaps  better,  in  my 
present  position  than  the  other,  which  would  involve  great 
labor. 


HEADQUARTERS  POST  AND  DISTRICT  OF  MOBILE, 

MOBILE,  June  30,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  send  packages  of  papers  from  day  to  day,  from  which 
you  may  have  some  account  of  my  goings  on. 

I  am  living  at  a  tremendous  rate,  and  between  my  business 
and  my  pleasures,  or  what  passes  for  pleasure,  and  is  part  of 
my  business,  have  but  little  leisure  to  write  ;  though  I  do 
far  more  than  my  share,  considering  that  there  are  so  many 
at  home.  My  house  is  full  to  overflowing  with  guests.  I 
am  now  entertaining  three  brigadier-generals  and  their  sev 
eral  staffs.  A  night  or  two  ago  I  gave  entertainment  to  the 
whole  of  Mobile,  and  you  may  be  sure  I  gave  them  a  good 
time.  There  is  some  account  of  the  occasion  in  the  papers 
of  the  day,  and  I  enclose  a  slip. 


HEADQUARTERS  POST  AND  DISTRICT  OF  MOBILE, 
MOBILE,  ALA.,  Aug.  i.  1865. 

I  know  it  will  make  you  sad,  but  for  the  sake  of  their  ex 
ceeding  beauty,  I  must  transcribe  some  original  lines  I  run 
my  eye  over  to-day  and  saved  for  you  : 

GONE  HOME. 

No  sickness  there,  nor  any  care,  nor  grief 

Nor  any  night ; 
There,  we  shall  clasp  our  long  lost  friends  again, 

With  new  delight. 


408  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 


No  cold  neglect,  ingratitude,  nor  guile, 

Will  there  distress ; 
No  heavy  hours,  no  lonely  days  and  nights, 

No  weariness  ; 
No  longing  for  sweet  peace,  that  never  comes  ; 

No  scalding  tears, 
That,  falling,  wash  away  the  life  and  strength 

More  than  do  years  ; 
Oh,  home!  sweet  home  !  when  shall  these  weary  feet 

Press  thy  dear  soil  ? 
When  shall  I  rest  from  all  my  pain  and  grief, 

My  care  and  toil  ? 


HEADQUARTERS  POST  OF  MOBILE, 
MOBILE,  ALA.,  Aug.  n,  1865. 


The  chronic  complaint  with  which  my  system  is  poisoned, 
will  never  be  eradicated  ;  the  diarrhoea  at  times  is  beyond  any 
thing  you  ever  saw  or  dreamed  of,  and  from  day  to  day  I  look 
at  myself  in  the  glass  with  wonder  and  amazement  that  I  am 
still  alive.  Change,  radical  change  of  air,  may  possibly  alle 
viate  ;  it  is  worth  the  trial.  Under  the  most  favorable  circum 
stances,  I  should  die  in  two  weeks  in  Ohio,  and  will  not  come 
back  in  warm  weather  to  make  the  experiment. 


The  weather  here  is  very  warm.  We  have  no  epidemic 
as  yet,  but  I  hear  of  yellow  fever  in  New  Orleans.  I  will  do 
what  I  can  to  keep  it  out  ;  as  long  as  the  nights  remain  warm 
there  is  no  danger.  A  little  strange,  is  it  not,  that  in  a 
vSouthern  climate  warm  weather  is  a  guarantee  against 
infection  ? 


MOBILE,  ALA.,  Sept.  5,  1865. 

I  write  in  great  haste,  and  expect  to  be  home  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  weeks. 


Letters  409 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Sept.  12,  1865. 

I  shall  be  detained  here  some  days  on  business.  As  soon 
as  I  can  get  away,  I  shall  come  home,  and  hope  my  coming 
will  not  be  deferred  long  after  the  reception  of  this  letter.  I 
cannot  now  write  you  at  length  ;  my  plans  are  not  matured. 
My  health  is  much  the  same,  no  worse. 

UNION  CUJB,  NEW  YORK,  Feb.  24,  1866. 
MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER  : 

New  York  has  been  quite  agog  the  last  few  days  with 
gayeties  growing  out  of  Washington's  anniversary  and  the 
advent  of  General  Grant.  The  latter  we  entertained  at  our 
club  the  day  before  yesterday  with  one  of  the  most  magnifi 
cent  dinners  ever  given  in  America,  at  which  there  were 
present  one  hundred  and  fifty  guests.  The  banqueting  hall 
was  magnificently  draped  with  flags,  the  tables  covered  with 
exquisite  exotics,  glittering  plate,  and  the  most  sumptuous 
viands  and  richest  wines  were  there  in  profusion  ;  added  to 
all  this,  two  large  bands  discoursed  most  eloquent  music, 
and  the  feast  was  enlivened  with  speeches,  wit,  song,  and 
sentiment.  To  all  present,  it  will  have  been  an  event  long 
to  be  remembered. 

Yesterday  was  a  lovely,  balmy,  springlike  day,  and  I  was 
taken  a  long  drive  by  Mr.  Jerome,  behind  a  fleet  and  splendid 
team  of  four  horses,  said  to  be  the  most  stylish  "  four-in- 
hand  "  in  New  York.  I  quite  longed  to  have  you  by  my 
side,  for  you  would  have  enjoyed  it  to  the  utmost.  I  hope, 
however,  and  at  no  very  future  day,  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
driving  you  through  the  park  myself,  and  also  riding  with 
you  there  on  horseback. 


WASHINGTON,  April  n,  1866. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  not  yet  been  introduced  to  the  President,  because 
I  have  waited  for  the  proper  person  to  perform  the  office. 


4io  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

The  matter  of  my  brevet  is  all  right.  My  name,  with  a 
number  of  others,  was  sent  to  the  Senate  on  the  26th  of 
February,  and  since  then,  there  has  been  no  executive  session 
and  no  opportunity  to  make  confirmations.  I  am  assured 
there  will  be  no  trouble  about  it,  but  before  I  leave  I  shall 
see  the  Military  Committee.  I  do  not  think  it  worth  while 
to  seek  a  private  interview  writh  General  Grant ;  if  he  wants 
to  see  me,  he  will  send  for  me,  and  being  out  of  service  I 
have  no  business  with  him.  It  seems  to  be  generally  under 
stood  that  he  possesses  no  real  power  with  the  President,  or 
that  if  he  does,  he  will  not  exercise  it  in  civil  appointments. 
As  to  the  new  Army  Bill,  the  Congress  have  determined 
to  control  the  appointments  from  civil  life  themselves — 
to  permit  no  interference  from  the  President  or  from  Gen 
eral  Grant.  It  is  also  said  that  the  President  is  deter 
mined,  in  his  civil  appointments,  to  recognize  the  services 
of  distinguished  officers.  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  told  me  yester 
day,  what  has  been  reiterated  to  me  very  many  times,  that 
my  record  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  on  the  list. 
How  it  will  end,  I  cannot  tell. 


AMONG  THE  GRANITE  Hiu^  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 
NEAR  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE,  HANOVER, 
Thursday,  July  19,  1866. 

I  wrote  mother  from  Boston  last  Sunday  ;  at  the  time  of 
writing  I  was  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  Judge  Bigelow 
and  Mr.  Miller,  who  paid  me  a  call.  In  the  evening  I  left 
our  party,  that  had  been  invited  to  a  reception  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  Mayor  of  Boston,  and  having  been  pro 
vided  with  a  carriage  and  pair  of  fast  horses,  I  drove  my 
friend,  Wash.  McLean  (in  Boston,  to  superintend  his  son, 
who  enters  Harvard)  out  to  Quincy. 

On  Thursday  morning  early,  after  most  sumptuous  and 
princely  entertainment  by  the  citizens  of  Boston,  we  left  for 
Portsmouth,  passing  through  Lynn,  Salem,  Newburyport, 
Ipswich,  etc.,  and  arriving  at  Portsmouth  were  greeted  by 
the  mayor  and  civil  authorities,  and  taken  charge  of  by 


Letters  4 1 1 

Admiral  Bailey,  who  entertained  us  at  the  Navy  Yard. 
Here  we  had  a  reception,  and  more  pretty  girls  than  I  ever 
saw  together  in  my  life  came  to  see  us.  We  stayed  a  day 
and  night  at  Portsmouth,  then  in  a  special  car,  most  luxuri 
ously  fitted  up,  came  forward  through  Manchester  and  other 
small  villages  to  Concord,  where  the  Chief-Justice,  Chase, 
joined  us.  We  were  breakfasted  by  Mr.  Stearns,  the  Super 
intendent  of  the  road,  who  has  taken  charge  of  our  travelling 
facilities  from  Boston  and  who  had  invited  to  meet  us  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State,  the  Mayors  of  Portsmouth  and  Concord, 
and  other  dignitaries,  who  escorted  the  distinguished  party 
to  Hanover.  Here  we  scattered  a  little,  to  accept  the  hospi 
tality  of  divers  people.  General  Sherman  is  at  Dr.  Crosby's, 
Judge  Chase  at  Senator  Patterson's  and  myself  here  at 
Colonel  Berdan's,  who,  with  his  lovely  and  accomplished 
wife,  possess  an  old  country  seat  some  three  miles  from 
Hanover,  where  we  are  being  most  hospitably  entertained. 
The  lady's  uncle  was,  in  '61,  our  Minister  to  Portugal,  and 
for  three  years  she  was  sojourning  with  him  at  Lisbon,  or 
Paris,  or  travelling  in  England  or  France.  Of  course,  we 
knew  many  friends  and  soon  were  directly  en  rapport.  She 
is  very  beautiful  and  young.  Judge  Sherman  and  wife  staid 
with  their  son  in  Hanover.  The  young  man  graduated 
yesterday  and  delivered  an  address  to-day.  To-night,  after 
the  college  exercises  are  over,  we  shall  proceed  to  Burling 
ton,  Vermont,  and  from  thence  to  Montreal,  Quebec,  back 
to  Montreal,  then  to  Niagara  Falls,  where  I  shall  abandon 
and  from  thence  make  my  way  home,  as  I  do  not  care  to  go 
West.  I  have  met  in  my  tour  many  old  friends,  some  offi 
cers  who  served  with  me,  and  all  the  people  seem  to  be 
acquainted  with  my  military  career,  though  the  ...  re 
porters  will  insist  upon  calling  me  ' '  Kirby . ' ' 

I  am  now  upon  the  ground,  made  sacred  to  his  admirers, 
as  the  birth-place  and  the  haunt  of  the  early  youth  of  Daniel 
Webster.  In  the  house  where  I  am  at  present  writing  he 
has  often  slept.  We  yesterday  ate  from  his  dining-table, 
have  passed  the  lake  where  he  fished,  the  coverts  where  he 
shot,  have  wandered  through  his  schoolhouses  and  over  the 
ground  where  he  played,  the  whole  atmosphere  is  fragrant 


4 1 2  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

with  his  memories.  Here,  too,  Salmon  P.  Chase  was  born 
and  educated,  that  is  to  say,  he  was  born  some  eighteen 
miles  from  this  point,  and  is  one  of  the  alumni  of  Dartmouth. 
The  air  here  among  the  hills  and  not  far  from  the  foot  of  the 
White  Mountains,  is  delightfully  pure.  I  feel  much  benefit 
from  its  effects,  and  though  my  disease  is  still  upon  me,  my 
spirits  are  lighter.  I  am  writing  in  the  early  morning  before 
the  family  are  up,  the  only  opportunity  I  have. 


QUEBEC,  CANADA,  July  22,  1866. 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Hanover,  in  New  Hampshire,  and 
during  the  commencement  of  Dartmouth  College.  I  met 
thereat  many  of  the  savans  of  New  England,  the  alumni  of 
the  college  and  their  friends.  The  papers  of  the  day  have 
doubtless  given  you  accounts  of  the  manner  in  which  Gen 
eral  Sherman  was  received  by  them  and  of  his  speech  to  the 
students  and  at  the  alumni  dinner.  I  came  in  for  my  full 
share  of  the  honors  and  the  college  paid  me  the  distinguished 
and  delicate  compliment  of  conferring  upon  me  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  to  which  they  were  pleased  to  say  I  was 
entitled  by  virtue  of  my  distinguished  services  to  the  country. 
I  was  most  kindly  and  hospitably  entertained  by  the  peo 
ple.  .  .  .  From  Hanover  we  passed  rapidly  through 
the  State  ot  Vermont,  through  the  gorges  of  the  Green 
Mountains,  to  Montpelier  and  to  Burlington.  We  were 
escorted  to  Rouse  Point  on  I^ake  Champlain,  by  the  Gover 
nor  of  the  State,  from  thence  we  crossed  the  lake,  stopping 
a  brief  season  at  Plattsburg  and  directly  found  ourselves 
upon  the  Canada  border.  Arriving  at  Montreal  in  the  night, 
we  were  received  by  a  deputation  of  American  citizens,  and 
escorted  to  the  St.  Lawrence  Hotel.  The  next  day  we  re 
ceived  calls  from  the  citizens  and  the  British  officers,  rode 
to  the  heights  to  view  the  city,  went  to  partake  of  hospi 
tality  at  the  house  of  one  or  two  of  the  most  prominent  citi 
zens.  Witnessed  a  review  of  the  British  regulars  stationed 
at  Montreal,  who  paid  the  General  the  distinguished  honor 
of  a  military  salute,  the  first  instance  I  know  of  in  which  the 


Letters  4 1 3 

same  has  been  done  to  an  American  General.  We  left 
Montreal  by  steamer  last  evening  and  having  a  delightful 
sail  down  the  River  Saint  Lawrence,  arrived  here  this  Sun 
day  morning.  I  have  just  parted  from  the  officers  of  the 
"  Fusileers,"  stationed  here,  who  came  to  invite  the  General 
and  myself  to  a  mess  dinner  at  eight  o'clock  to-night.  These 
mess  dinners  among  the  English  officers  are  grand  affairs, 
and  I  only  regret  that  my  health  is  so  wretched  as  to  pre 
clude  any  enjoyment  save  what  a  looker-on*  at  a  feast  may 
gather.  I  will  not  pretend  to  do  the  part  of  a  gazetteer,  and 
attempt  the  description  of  places  or  scenery.  I  have  been 
very  much  charmed  with  the  mountains  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont,  the  beautiful  Lake  Champlain,  and  find  a  vast 
deal  that  is  interesting  in  Montreal  and  Quebec  ;  all  that  I 
have  seen  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  serves  to  remind 
me  of  the  Mississippi  ;  the  same  flat  shore,  the  same  coun 
try  stretching  back.  We  have  not  done  Quebec  yet  ;  the 
ladies  went  to  church  while  I  staid  home  to  write,  but  to 
morrow  shall  go  over  the  fortifications  that  to  the  eye 
seem  impregnable.  We  shall  stay  here  a  day,  then  return 
to  Montreal  for  two  days,  that  will  be  devoted  to  public  re 
ceptions  and  entertainments  already  in  prepartion  for  us  by 
the  military  and  the  clubs.  From  Montreal  we  shall  go  to 
Lake  Ontario  and  Niagara  Falls,  where  I  shall  feel  com 
pelled  to  abandon  the  party,  for  the  state  of  my  health  de 
mands  repose.  I  cannot  control  my  bowels.  I  have  sent 
you  some  newspapers  that  will  give  an  account  of  a  march 
almost  as  remarkable  as  that  other  march  to  the  sea.  New 
England,  compelled  to  recognize  the  grandeur  and  magnifi 
cence  of  the  greatest  military  chieftain  of  the  age,  opened 
her  arms  wide  to  receive  him,  and  though  tardy  in  her 
homage,  has  now,  with  profound  reverence,  paid  it  in  full. 
It  was  a  beautiful  and  refreshing  sight  to  me  to  behold  the 
East,  effete  and  tottering  with  age  and  sin,  kneeling  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  representative  man  of  the  }^oung  and  glowing 
West  ;  to  see  her  orators  and  statesmen,  her  governors  and 
rulers,  and,  above  all,  her  wise  men,  whom  she  most  delights 
to  honor  within  her  own  borders,  pressing  forward  to  touch 
the  hem  of  the  garment  of  him  who  had  delivered  their  land 


4 1 4  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

from  a  great  evil,  and  who  now  marched  through  with  the 
firm  and  even  tread  that  indicates  superiority  in  intellect,, 
in  statesmanship,  in  patriotism. 


WASHINGTON,  January  17,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  SON  WALTER  : 

Politics  run  very  high.  The  radicals,  in  my  opinion, 
will  impeach  the  President,  but  I  do  not  think  they  will 
attempt  to  depose  him.  The  consequence  of  this  movement 
will  be  depression  in  trade  and  commerce,  and  a  disturbance 
of  the  finances.  Gold  will  rise  and  fluctuate.  I  do  not 
think  there  will  be  an  outbreak  or  appeal  to  arms,  but  I  do- 
think  we  are  in  a  condition  of  war  and  revolution.  My 
hope  is  that  there  will  be  a  division  in  the  radical  party  that 
will  lead  to  its  breaking  up.  That  party  will  not  admit  the 
Southern  States  to  representation,  nor  are  they  willing  to 
define  their  relations  to  the  government,  or  legislate  to  make 
them  either  States  or  territories,  but  they  will  hold  them  in 
abeyance  till  after  the  next  Presidential  election.  The 
Senate  will  pass  a  bill  to-day  or  to-morrow  declaring  the 
acts  of  the  President  in  making  removals  from  office  illegal 
and  this  will  have  the  effect  of  displacing  all  his  appoint 
ments.  Those  who  have  gone  abroad  will  have  to  return. 
All  postmasters,  marshals,  revenue  officers  and  custom-house 
officers,  everything  of  the  kind  that  has  been  given  by  the 
President,  will  have  to  abdicate  and  be  set  aside.  The 
Senate,  at  all  hazards,  is  determined  to  guard  its  prerogative. 

You  had  better  read  carefully  the  proceedings  of  Congress, 
and  in  this  way  keep  yourself  advised  of  the  history  of  your 
country,  now  passing  through  a  strange  and  fearful  epoch 
that  will  be  remarkable  for  events  of  great  subsequent  in 
fluence  in  which  you  will  probably  have  to  bear  a  part.  I 
need  not  counsel  you  to  strain  every  nerve,  now  that  you 
have  an  opportunity,  to  perfect  yourself  in  all  the  studies 
that,  now  mastered,  will  fit  you  for  a  life  of  future  usefulness 
to  your  country,  your  friends  and  yourself.  I  want  you  to 
harden  your  body  by  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  improve 


Letters  4 1 5 

your  mind  by  reading  and  research.  You  seem  to  have  a 
difficulty  in  lengthening  your  letters,  so  I  will  thank  you,  in 
addition  to  your  ordinary  letter,  to  send  me  the  daily  trans 
lation  of  your  Ccesar. 


AT  SEA,  ON  BOARD  SHIP  "  RISING  STAR," 

OFF  POINT  MAYSI,  CUBA,  July  25,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

There  is  just  a  possibility  of  our  meeting  a  return  ship  and 
exchanging  mails  to-day,  so  I  prepare  a  little  line  that  you 
may  possibly  hear  that  up  to  this  time  we  have  had  prosper 
ous  voyage  with  favoring  gales,  the  sea,  as  a  general  thing, 
smooth  with  light  squalls  of  rain.  The  ship  is  commanded 
by  Captain  L,eebury,  whom  mother  will  remember  as  an  old 
shipmate  and  friend  of  Walter's.  He  has  been  very  polite, 
and  I  have  had  the  run  of  his  cabin.  He  speaks  most 
affectionately  of  Walter.  Thus  far,  I  think  the  voyage  has 
been  of  benefit  to  my  health,  my  appetite  has  been  good, 
and  I  have  not  suffered  in  the  least  from  seasickness,  al 
though  at  times  the  ship  was  pitched  and  tossed  a  good  deal. 
We  have  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  passengers,  including 
some  five  hundred  soldiers  bound  for  California.  The  ship 
is  wrell  found  and  healthy.  We  have  run  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  a  day,  have  accomplished  upwards  of  twelve 
hundred  miles,  and  expect  to  make  port  next  Sunday,  the 
whole  distance  being  about  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 
We  are  just  now  running  through  the  islands  and  about 
entering  the  Caribbean  Sea.  The  weather  is  now  clear  and 
very  hot,  especially  at  night  ;  the  motion  of  the  ship  gives  a 
fine  breeze  in  the  day.  Of  course,  I  find  a  number  of  ac 
quaintances  on  board.  There  are  some  ladies,  but  they  are 
all  seasick.  Nothing  of  moment  has  transpired  on  the 
voyage. 

PANAMA,  July  28,  1867. 

Our  ship  reached  port  at  Aspinwall  after  a  prosperous 
voyage  with  favoring  gales,  at  9.30  this  (Sunday)  morning. 


416  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

I  wrote  while  on  shipboard,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  a  return 
steamer,  but  was  disappointed,  so  you  will  have  two  letters 
by  this  mail.  The  strangest  sights  at  once  meet  my  eye  on 
landing,  the  most  ludicrous  of  which  were  the  half-naked 
native  soldiers  on  guard,  half  Indian  and  half  deteriorated 
Spaniard  ;  I  think  with  an  hundred  Western  boys  I  could 
whip  two  thousand  of  them.  Then  the  city,  a  collection  of 
adobe  houses,  every  one  of  which  was  occupied  for  the  sale 
of  everything  under  the  sun  to  eat,  to  drink,  to  smoke,  and 
to  wear,  while  women  sat  at  the  outer  doors,  before  little 
tables,  covered  with  silver  dollars  and  halves  and  quarters 
to  exchange  for  U.  S.  currency.  The  exceptions  to  their 
buildings  were  the  stone  edifices  for  warehouses  and  other 
purposes,  erected  by  the  Panama  Railroad  Company.  The 
street  was  infested  with  peddlers  of  fruit  and  wine  and  lemon 
ade,  cakes,  pies,  and  ale,  pedlars  of  all  ages,  both  sexes  and 
every  hue,  all  of  them,  men,  women  and  children,  very 
nearly  naked,  some  of  the  children  quite  so.  They  offered 
every  description  of  tropical  fruits,  bananas,  plantains, 
cocoanuts,  limes,  the  celebrated  Avocado  pear,  with  queer- 
looking  cakes  and  loaves  of  bread  and  bits  of  fresh  pork 
cooked  and  served  on  plantain  leaves.  The  streets  were 
shaded  with  the  cocoa-bearing  palm,  now  in  full  bearing, 
and  for  the  first  time  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  this 
wonderful  tree  with  its  long  feathery  branches  eight  feet  and 
upwards,  that  are  in  fact  leaves,  while  far  to  the  top  were 
growing  the  nuts  in  huge  clusters.  The  weather  was  hot 
and  rainy,  and  I  was  glad  to  avail  myself  of  the  hospitality 
tendered  by  Mr.  Parker,  the  Superintendent  of  the  railroad, 
who  was  prepared  to  receive  me,  and  treated  me  with  pro 
found  politeness  as  indeed  did  all  the  officials  at  Aspinwall. 
At  eleven  o'clock  I  was  ushered  to  a  special  train,  and 
whirled  off  on  my  way  to  Panama,  over  one  of  the  most 
romantic  roads  in  the  world,  a  road  connecting  the  two  great 
oceans  that  it  is  well  worth  while  to  traverse  either  to  see. 
For  a  while  it  winds  along  the  borders  of  the  Chagres  River, 
through  lagoons  and  the  most  dense  vegetation  you  can  con 
ceive  of ;  then  threading  intricate  passes  and  circling  round 
the  mountain  bases,  ascends  to  the  summit  level,  two  hun- 


Letters  4 1 7 

dred  and  sixty-three  feet  above  the  ocean  line,  then  descend 
ing  sweeps  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  on  the  border  of  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  bays  that  ever  gave  harbor.  At  an 
other  time  I  will  give  you  a  more  particular  description  of 
this  wonderful  effort  of  ingenuity  and  engineering  skill.  I 
reached  Panama  at  3.30  P.M.,  and  found  my  Secretary,  Gen 
eral  Hough,  in  waiting  for  me. 

Monday,  29. — Rose  at  seven,  bathed  and  wrote,  break 
fasted,  at  eleven  o'clock  ;  .  .  .  assumed  duties  of  Con 
sulate,  and  called  in  state,  full  regimentals,  sword  and  sash, 
upon  General  Vincent  Olarte,  the  President  of  the  State  of 
Panama,  who  received  me  most  courteously  and  acknowl 
edged  my  authority  ;  as  he  speaks  Spanish  and  no  other  lan 
guage,  and  I  speak  English  and  no  Spanish,  the  interview, 
except  so  far  as  formalities  were  concerned,  was  not  specially 
interesting  ;  all  that  was  necessary  to  be  communicated,  how 
ever,  were  transmitted  through  an  interpreter,  his  Secretary, 
a  gentleman  of  the  half  blood,  I  imagine,  his  mother  having 
been  a  first  class  negress.  I  was  sadly  put  to  it  for  uniform, 
my  tailor  having  omitted  to  send  me  the  coat  till  the  very  last 
moment,  when  the  steamer  left  the  dock,  and  when  nobody 
could  be  found  to  receipt  for  it.  I  managed  to  make  a  shift, 
however,  with  the  coat  of  my  Secretary,  that  I  borrowed  for 
the  occasion,  that,  fortunately,  I  was  able  to  buckle  round  me. 
I  found  the  President  ready  to  receive  me  in  full  state  at  the 
Executive  Mansion,  a  very  old,  but  very  substantial  building, 
erected  as  are  most  of  the  first-class  houses  here,  on  the  hollow 
square  and  courtyard  in  the  centre  principle,  like  Mr.  Kirby's, 
at  Cincinnati.  He  is  a  handsome,  and  I  should  think  accom 
plished  man,  and  has  won  distinction  as  a  soldier.  He  is 
bitterly  opposed  to  Mosquero,  who  is  now  a  prisoner  at 
Bogota,  and  awaits  the  coming  of  what  he  calls  the  Consti 
tutional  President,  who  is  now  abroad,  but  expected  here  in 
the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks.  The  most  noticeable  things 
about  the  man,  that  I  could  discover,  physically,  were  his 
beautiful  long  and  silky  beard,  black  as  jet  and  soft  as  down, 
and  his  hands  and  finger  nails,  the  former  small,  white  and 
delicate,  like  a  young  girl's,  the  latter  cultivated  to  a  pro- 


4 1 8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

digious  length.  I  am  constantly  reminded  of  the  stories  my 
father  used  to  tell  me  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
people  here  and  I  remember  this  matter  of  the  nails  was 
a  peculiarity  he  mentioned  as  among  the  wealthy  and  a 
certain  class  who  in  that  way  advertised  that  they  never  per 
formed  any  manual  labor.  Another  thing  (to  digress,  as  he 
used  to  say)  was  the  stories  he  told  about  their  racing  horses 
and  the  gait  and  style  of  their  going  with  the  manner  of  bit 
and  harness  and  seat  of  rider,  all  of  which  is  to  the  letter 
true  to-day.  He  was  a  wonderful  man  and  the  older  I  grow 
and  the  more  I  see,  the  better  able  I  am  to  appreciate  him. 
Well,  I  got  through  with  the  President,  and  having  eased 
myself  of  my  own  harness,  must  attempt  some  vague  de 
scription  of  this  old;  old  town  as  it  strikes  me  and  nothing  I 
ever  read  or  heard  of  can  appear  more  antiquated,  not  primi 
tive,  but  antiquated,  carrying  your  mind  back  to  the  cen 
turies  that  are  gone.  The  site  for  a  city  is  peculiarly  well 
located,  in  a  military  and  civil  sense,  and  I  doubt  not  a  city 
has  been  here  far  beyond  the  memory  of  the  traditions  of 
man.  As  you  approach  it  from  the  railroad  depot,  you  are 
unfavorably  impressed,  the  long  covered  way  that  composes 
the  depot  occupying  nearly  all  the  available  ground  and  shut 
ting  out  all  view  ;  the  passengers  are  shoved  out  from  the  cars 
at  one  end  and  hurried  through  to  a  little  tugboat  that  lies  at 
the  wharf  at  the  other  end,  like  wheat  through  a  mill  hopper. 
Hustled  and  crowded  and  jostled  and  jammed,  hot  and  op 
pressed,  with  children,  sick  women  and  small  parcels,  their 
visions  of  Panama  are  like  horrid  dreams  of  the  night,  and  it 
lingers  in  their  memory  as  the  nightmare  of  an  evil  con 
science  :  hence  Panama  fever.  Escaping  from  these  damned 
spirits,  he  who  proposes  to  sojourn  here,  after  taking  seat  in 
a  New  York  omnibus,  propelled  by  force  of  mule  meat  which 
gets  terribly  thrashed  in  transitu,  finds  himself  meandering 
up  steep  and  crooked  ways,  till  inside  a  wall  erected  cen 
turies  ago,  he  realizes  he  is  in  Panama.  All  sorts  of  queer- 
looking  tenements  greet  his  sight,  roofed  with  corrugated 
tiles,  that  is  to  say,  a  succession  of  earthen  cylinders,  the 
convex  side  up,  each  about  two  feet  in  length,  and  laid 
parallel  end  to  end,  these  never  decay,  and  having  been  ex 


Letters 


419 


posed  to  the  weather  for  years  have  assumed  all  sorts  of 
colors.  The  most  of  these  tenements  are  used  both  for 
mercantile  and  social  purposes,  the  store  or  shop  being  below 
the  family,  or  place  of  pleasure,  where  billiards,  cards,  music, 
or  what  not  above  ;  many  of  the  signs  were  in  English,  a 
few  in  French,  the  bulk  in  the  Spanish  language.  Mingled 
with  these  tenements  are  the  market  stalls,  where  again  I 
had  confirmation  of  my  father's  stories,  that  I  used  to  set 
down  as  traveller's  tales.  The  meat  is  cut  from  the  bone  in 
long  strings,  and  sold  by  the  yard,  and  these  strings  hung 
from  the  crossbars  in  strange  festoons,  while  the  bare  bones 
grin  at  their  base,  offer  no  alluring  or  appetizing  appearance. 
Passing  through  narrow  but  well  paved  streets,  at  last  you 
emerge  into  the  grand  plaza,  a  hollow  square  about  double 
the  size  of  our  garden,  surrounded  on  the  one  side  by  stores, 
over  one  of  which  is  my  consulate,  on  the  other  by  the  State 
House  of  Panama,  on  the  third  by  one  of  the  strangest, 
most  weird  looking  citadels,  and  on  the  fourth  by  the 
' '  Grand  Hotel, ' '  that  commands  a  view  of  the  bay  from  the 
upper  windows  of  the  front  rooms,  one  of  which  I  occupy. 
This  bay  is  small,  securely  landlocked,  and  very,  very  beauti 
ful  in  its  aspect  at  all  times.  Here  and  there  between  the 
islands  that  loom  up  with  lofty  peaks,  covered  with  most 
vivid  green,  you  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wide  Pacific  rolling 
eternally,  and  as  I  see  it  at  this  moment,  serene,  calm,  as  if 
no  storm  ever  ruffled  its  bosom.  Passing  out  from  the  Plaza 
ocean  ward,  you  come  again  to  the  city  walls  and  the  mole. 
This  is  a  charming  promenade,  and  when  the  tide  is  up  and 
the  waves  dash  on  the  rocks  beneath,  while  the  fresh  sea 
breeze  comes  in,  exhilarating.  The  cathedral  deserves  more 
than  passing  notice.  I  have  not  yet  been  inside  of  it  ;  the 
outside  seems  to  have  been  formed  out  of  a  sort  of  concrete. 
So  far  as  the  tower  is  concerned  (I  have  since  by  peeping 
round  the  corner  discovered  there  are  two  of  them)  that 
looms  up  lofty  and  white,  the  glare  is  relieved  by  all  sorts  of 
wild  weeds  and  flowers  that  have  rooted  themselves  among 
the  battlements ;  on  the  top  of  the  tower  is  a  belfry  contain 
ing  certain  cracked  bells,  that  they  employ  a  multitude  of 
boys  to  beat  and  bruise  and  hammer  with  all  sorts  of  stones 


42O  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  other  weapons,  till  they  howl  and  jingle  with  a  horrid 
agony,  piercing  the  ears  of  men  and  making  them  think  that 
for  a  time  hell  has  broken  loose.  A  large  number  are  deaf 
in  consequence,  but  the  most  part  of  the  population  have 
gone  crazy  from  the  effects  of  the  dreadful  tintinnabulum. 
The  more  the  bells  are  cracked,  the  louder  they  are  made  to 
bellow,  and  the  more  vigorously  they  are  pounded  ;  and  the 
population  being  cracked,  the  symphony  is  more  complete. 
The  main  part  of  the  building  is  composed  of  stone,  green 
with  the  moss  of  ages,  and  with  many  a  niche  left  here  and 
there  for  a  graven  image  to  stand  in.  The  whole  concern 
looks  like  an  exaggerated  witch  of  Kndor,  turned  into  a 
church,  and  if  Samuel  or  Saul,  on  whomever  the  man  was 
that  she  appeared  to,  was  to  come  again  on  earth  and  see 
this  ecclesiastical  architecture  "  he  would  lay  all  along  on 
the  ground,"  as  he  did  when  he  called  the  witch  up.  It  is 
the  abode  of  many  priests,  all  of  whom  have  families.  The 
number  of  the  bells  alluded  to  that  suffer  in  these  towers 
are  ten,  in  fact,  but  those  who  do  not  know  this  have  sup 
posed  them  to  be  ten  thousand.  The  people  subsist  princi 
pally  on  water  brought  from  a  distance  by  boys  in  casks 
fitted  to  pack  saddles  on  the  backs  of  mules,  and  it  is  a 
beautiful  and  refreshing  sight  to  see  a  small  mule  with  two 
of  these  barrels  strung  on  each  side  and  a  youth,  without 
any  hat,  or  stockings,  or  shoes,  or  coat,  or  vest,  or  suspend 
ers,  or  pantaloons,  bearing  in  short  nothing  but  a  whip, 
perched  on  top.  The  water  they  bring  is  supposed  to  be 
wholesome.  Some  other  people  drink  rain  water,  judging 
from  the  roofs.  I  have  come  to  the  solemn  conclusion  to 
drink  none  at  all.  Panama  affords  a  fine  field  for  the  study 
of  anatomy,  the  human  frame,  after  the  most  approved  style 
of  the  model  artist,  being  presented  in  strong  relief.  The 
entire  absence  of  covering,  to  the  uninstructed  eye,  produces 
effects  that  are  rather  startling  at  first,  but  warm  and  brill 
iant  coloring  soon  relieves  the  shock.  Perhaps  the  less  said 
about  the  matter  the  better,  but  the  populace  of  Panama  are 
not  celebrated  for  carrying  out  in  all  respects  the  law  Moses 
laid  down  for  sanitary  purposes. 

I  am  told  society  is  rather  pleasant  here  than  otherwise. 


Letters  42 1 

As  yet  I  have  seen  but  very  few  gentlemen  and  no  ladies. 
Some  of  the  Spanish  women  are  represented  as  being  beauti 
ful,  and  all  extravagantly  fond  of  dancing.  The  daughters 
of  the  priests  mingle  freely  in  society  ;  one  of  them  is  said  to 
be  very  beautiful.  They  go  by  their  fathers'  names.  I  have 
not  heard  of  their  sons  as  yet,  though  inasmuch  as  they  have 
daughters,  it  is  supposed  to  be  possible  for  them  to  have  sons. 
Before  the  close  of  a  lengthy  but  rather  dreary  letter,  I  shall 
hope  to  be  able  to  give  you  a  larger  experience  that  the 
sojourn  of  but  a  day  makes  me  deficient  in. 

Quite  an  exciting  little  whaling  adventure  occurred  in  this 
bay  on  the  afternoon  of  26th  inst. ,  resulting  in  the  capture 
of  a  large  whale  off  Taboga,  a  beautiful  island  a  few  miles 
from  the  shore.  It  appears  that  an  officer  of  the  American 
whaling  bark,  Sea  Ranger,  which  arrived  here  the  day 
before,  whilst  on  board  the  vessel  at  her  anchorage,  sighted 
a  young  whale  or  calf,  and,  knowing  the  mother  or  cow 
could  not  be  far  off,  immediately  sent  a  couple  of  boats  in 
pursuit.  The  crew  soon  succeeded  in  harpooning  the  calf, 
which  immediately  afterwards  joined  the  cow,  and  both 
started  seawards,  followed  by  the  boats  and  bark.  Off 
Taboga  the  old  whale  was  captured,  and  turned  out  to  be 
a  fine  one  for  this  region.  It  measured  sixty  feet  long, 
fifteen  and  a  half  feet  across  the  flukes,  with  fins  twenty-two 
feet  in  length,  and  produced  thirty-seven  barrels  of  oil.  It 
is  something  very  unusual  for  a  large  whale  to  be  captured 
in  this  bay  so  near  the  shore.  Lieutenant  Livingstone,  of 
man-of-war,  Dakota,  stationed  at  this  point,  witnessed  the 
whole  affair,  and  gave  me  an  animated  account  of  it.  Cap 
tain  Spicer,  in  command,  sent  him  ashore  to  offer  courtesies, 
etc.,  and  to  place  the  ship's  boats  at  my  disposal.  As  one  of 
them  is  a  steam  launch,  I  shall  avail  myself  of  his  politeness, 
and  from  time  to  time  explore  the  islands  of  the  bay. 

A  ship  (this  is  Tuesday,  the  3oth,  I  am  writing)  has  just 
arrived  from  Peru,  and  the  hotel  is  filled  with  passengers.  I 
forgot  to  tell  you  that  a  French  ship  came  in  yesterday,  and 
brought  six  nuns,  I  think,  in  all,  with  three  or  four  priests 
also.  They  are  sisters  of  charity,  or  sisters  of  mercy,  and 
you  will  be  glad  to  know  they  are  in  the  house,  for  when  I 


422  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

get  the  fever  they  will  take  care  of  me.  .  .  .  It  is  one  of  the 
South  and  Central  American  customs  to  have  men  chamber 
maids,  there  are  no  women  employed  for  any  purpose  about 
this  large  hotel  ;  men  cooks,  men  waiters,  men  housekeepers 
and  men  chambermaids.  With  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Hough 
and  the  aforesaid  nuns,  I  have  not  seen  a  female  about  the 
house,  and  I  believe  men  do  the  laundry  work.  It  is,  in  fact, 
throughout  the  tropics,  as  father  used  to  say,  ' '  a  heaven  for 
women,  a  purgatory  for  men,  and  a  hell  for  jackasses. ' '  Those 
poor  beasts,  with  the  mules  and  ponies,  are  most  scandalously 
treated.  There  is  a  wide  field  here  for  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Berg 
and  those  humanitarians  who  desire  to  relieve  the  sufferings 
of  beasts.  The  creatures  are  unmercifully  overladen.  They 
put  great  packs  upon  them,  more  than  they  can  well  stagger 
under,  and  then  a  great  oaf  gets  up  on  top  of  the  pack.  The 
answer  to  it  all  is,  I  suppose,  that  they  have  no  business  to 
be  jackasses.  There  are  strange  birds,  something  between  a 
crow  and  a  buzzard,  flying  about  quite  tame,  a  species  of  vul 
ture,  that  are  encouraged  and  act,  I  suppose,  the  part  of  scav 
engers.  The  hotel  accommodations  are  about  as  good  here 
as  anywhere  else,  the  prices  high,  a  little  higher  than  in  New 
York.  Three  or  four  steamers  have  arrived  since  my  advent, 
and  the  San  Francisco  ship  is  expected  to-morrow.  There 
is  a  population  here  of  about  ten  thousand,  six  thousand  of 
which  claims  pure  Spanish  origin, — doubtful.  Thus  I  have 
given  you  in  a  hurried,  desultory  way  my  impressions  of 
Panama  as  far  as  I  have  got. 


UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

AT  PANAMA,  Aug.  9,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

You  ask  how  I  am,  and  naturally  want  to  know  how  I 
live.  I  think  there  is  but  little  change  in  my  feelings,  save 
the  languor,  lassitude,  engendered  by  a  tropical  climate.  I 
take  but  little  exercise,  to  do  which,  indeed,  there  is  no 
temptation  ;  have  more  disposition  to  sleep  during  the  day, 
for  the  rest  it  is  about  the  same.  There  is  yellow  fever  here 


Letters  423 

within  the  last  two  or  three  days.  I  have  heard  of  cases  of 
black  vomit,  but  it  is  not  epidemic.  The  malarial  fever  of 
the  country  obtains  at  all  times,  and  is  similar  to  what  I 
suffered  with  in  the  South.  The  atmosphere  is  decidedly 
malarial.  The  temperature  is  very  different  from  what  you 
would  suppose  in  a  locality  so  near  the  Equator.  The  city 
is  built  upon  a  little  promontory  that  juts  out  into  the  bay, 
and  from  three  sides  there  is  an  opportunity  for  sea  breeze 
that  from  one  or  the  other  quarter  plays  nearly  the  whole 
day  long,  consequently  by  keeping  in  the  shade  and  chang 
ing  positions  one  can  keep  cool,  and  since  my  arrival  I  have 
felt  it  necessary  to  lay  aside  my  linen  garments  and  resume 
the  woollens  suitable  for  spring  or  fall  in  the  States.  The 
nights  are  invariably  cool  ;  but  this  is  so  from  the  night 
winds;  the  bed  on  which  I  lie  becomes  heated  to  an  intoler 
able  degree  ;  fortunately,  I  have  two  in  my  chamber,  and  I 
change  from  one  to  the  other  two  or  three  times  in  the  night. 
The  danger  here  is  from  exposure  to  the  sun,  to  drafts,  and  to 
rain.  Everybody,  of  both  sexes,  and  ages,  and  all  colors 
carries  umbrellas,  and  is  very  careful  of  currents  of  air.  In 
a  healthy  condition,  one  perspires  freely  and  continuously  in 
copious  streams  ;  if  from  any  cause  this  perspiration  is 
checked,  fever  must  ensue.  Were  it  not  for  the  winds,  the 
heat  would  be  insufferable,  yet  it  is  of  the  last  importance  to 
guard  yourself  from  the  winds  or  their  direct  action,  and  to 
keep  the  pores  open.  Daily  bathing  all  decent  people  re 
gard  as  indispensable  ;  also  they  avoid  the  fruits  of  the 
country,  bananas,  pineapples,  etc.,  excepting  limes,  that  are 
used  freely.  I  am  living  at  a  hotel,  but  in  a  day  or  two,  as 
soon  as  I  have  purchased  some  furniture,  shall  remove  to  the 
Consulate,  where  I  have  four  rooms,  one  of  which  will  be 
for  office  purposes,  one  for  a  parlor,  one  for  my  secretary  and 
his  wife,  and  the  fourth  I  shall  use  as  my  chamber.  My 
predecessor  in  office,  Dr.  Little,  died  in  the  room  a  few 
months  since  of  yellow  fever,  and  therefore  I  have  had  it 
well  scrubbed  and  whitewashed.  Furniture  here  is  enor 
mously  dear,  and  it  will  cost  me  many  hundreds  of  dollars 
to  furnish  the  Consulate.  For  the  present  I  shall  buy  only 
sufficient  for  the  chamber,  but  even  that  at  second  or  third 


424  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

hand  is  offered  me  at  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  only 
enough  for  one  room  ;  and  without  carpet,  that  indeed,  would 
only  be  a  nuisance  here.  What  I  say  of  furniture  applies  to 
everything  else.  All  the  means  and  appliances  of  living 
cost  more  here  in  gold  and  silver  than  in  New  York  in 
paper.  The  food  is  bad,  very  bad  ;  the  material  is  bad, 
the  cooking  worse.  The  bread  is  execrable,  sour,  made  of 
damaged  Chili  flour.  Butter  is  never  put  upon  the  table. 
Ice  plenty  enough,  but  costs  fifteen  cents  a  pound.  I  have 
not  found  a  single  palatable  dish  since  I  have  been  here. 
There  is  some  society  here,  some  intelligent  men.  I  have 
seen  very  few  of  the  women.  There  are  the  families  of  the 
French  and  English  consuls,  and  other  foreign  consuls, 
some  eight  or  ten  altogether,  the  officers  of  the  man-of-war 
Dakota  that  lies  off  in  the  bay,  and  the  gentlemen  connected 
with  the  steamship  company  and  the  railroad,  and  there  are 
a  number  of  respectable  merchants,  native  and  foreign. 
With  society  here,  however,  whatever  may  be  its  material,  I 
imagine  I  shall  have  little  to  do.  I  shall  be  compelled  to 
look  in  upon  myself  for  society  and  occupation,  which  till 
now  have  been  supplied  from  many  a  pleasant  circle  at  divers 
places,  by  which  it  has  been  my  happiness  to  be  surrounded, 
— a  conjuncture  which  must  be  felt  to  be  understood.  My 
way  in  this  part  of  the  journey  of  life  must  be  dark  and  soli 
tary.  Whether  substantial  reward  will  follow  the  sacrifice 
remains  to  be  proved.  If  it  is  accorded,  in  whatever  shape 
it  comes,  so  that  it  is  revealed  in  the  added  prosperity  and 
happiness  of  the  home  circle,  I  shall  feel  that  no  sacrifice  of 
self  will  have  been  too  great,  and  that  I  shall  not  have  lived 
wholly  in  vain.  Of  course,  it  will  be  my  ambition  to  illus 
trate  my  office  that  has  been  sadly  neglected,  and  events 
likely  to  transpire  may  give  me  an  opportunity  of  doing  this, 
while  adding  to  my  fame  and  the  glory  of  my  country.  No 
one  can  foresee  who  may  be  the  agents  of  the  Most  High  in 
shaping  the  destinies  of  nations.  I  pray  for  wisdom  with 
His  grace,  wisdom  that  is  better  worth  than  wealth  or  power 
or  glory. 

The  turkey  buzzards  are  encouraged  here  to  act  as  scaven- 


Letters 


425 


gers,  and  hop  about  the  streets  and  roost  on  the  housetops  as 
tame  pigeons  about  our  cities,  and  just  now  at  this  moment, 
suddenly  and  without  noise,  an  ugly  bird,  long-legged,  lean, 
mangy,  foul,  has  lit  upon  the  gable  end  of  an  adjoining 
house,  and  with  one  leg  hid  under  his  wing,  is  peering  at 
me  with  a  speculative  eye,  wondering  when  he  will  have  the 
pleasure  of  disputing  with  the  worms  the  right  of  way  to  my 
heart  and  bowels.  If  the  latter  give  him  as  much  trouble  as 
they  have  me,  he  '11  wish  he  had  n't  found  it.  I  turn  from 
the  contemplation  of  that  vulture  to  the  sad  sea-wave,  that  I 
can  just  see  from  where  I  sit  breaking  on  the  beach,  and  far 
beyond,  between  the  islands  of  Toboga  and  Flamingo,  rolls 
the  Pacific,  its  dimpled  waves  glittering  in  the  first  rays  of 
sunlight  that  has  broken  the  cloudy  day.  This,  you  know, 
is  the  wet  season,  and  the  rain  it  raineth  every  day.  All 
things  are  damp,  and  woollens  that  have  hung  a  day  are 
covered  with  blue  mould  that  hangs  thick  on  gloves  and 
books.  The  paper  on  which  I  write  is  wet  as  if  soaked. 
This  will  in  some  measure  account  for  the  blotted  appearance 
that  is  unavoidable. 

It  would  be  gratifying  to  me  to  see  some  of  the  theoretical 
amalgamationists  of  the  States,  those  at  least  who  pre 
tend  to  virtue  and  intelligence,  thrust  into  and  compelled 
to  form  part  of  the  society  of  Panama,  in  which  there  is  no 
distinction  as  to  color  or  race.  Practical  miscegenation  is 
the  order  of  the  day.  My  servant  is  a  full-blooded  negro 
from  the  island  of  Jamaica  ;  he  is  married  to  a  pure  blonde 
Englishwoman,  who  came  out  here  as  a  governess  to  an 
English  family.  The  other  day  there  came  and  sat  down  by 
me  at  table  a  couple,  one  of  whom  was  white,  the  other 
black.  The  white  women  seem  to  prefer  the  black  men,  as 
a  general  rule,  the  black  men  rather  prefer  their  own  color. 
Slavery  was  abolished  here  some  thirty  years  ago.  The 
blacks  now  demand  and  receive  social  equality.  There  are 
two  very  respectable  tri-weekly  newspapers  published  here, 
one  of  which  appears  each  alternate  day.  The  editor  of  one 
of  these  is  a  mulatto.  The  habits  of  the  people,  particularly 
the  mixed  breeds,  are  filthy  in  the  extreme.  The  children 


426  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

go  about  perfectly  naked.  The  women  wear  but  one  gar 
ment,  a  good  many  of  the  men  nothing  but  a  breech  clout. 
The  scenery  about  Panama  is  very  beautiful,  the  bay  es 
pecially,  with  its  delightful  group  of  islands,  and  enlivened 
by  ships,  steamers,  and  small  craft,  offers  a  water  view  un 
surpassed  ;  while  the  grandeur  of  the  forests,  with  their  rich 
tropical  verdure  clothing  the  mountains  that  loom  up  from 
the  plains  which  stretch  on  every  side,  with  their  groves 
of  gay,  flowering  trees  and  shrubs  fills  with  wonder  the 
stranger  to  the  tropics.  The  exquisite  flower  called  (<  H 
Spiritu  Santo,"  the  flower  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  brought 
to  me  this  morning,  having  just  come  into  bloom.  Truly 
a  wonder  and  curiosity  in  the  floral  kingdom.  It  is  purely 
white  and  like  wax,  excepting  just  under  the  wings  of  the 
dove,  that  seems  brooding  upon  the  nest,  there  is  a  tinge 
of  pink.  I  suppose  it  has  been  described  to  you  before. 
It  grows  from  a  bulb  ;  the  flowers  open  along  the  top  of  a 
stalk  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  lilies  ;  the  bud  before 
opening  is  about  the  size  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  and  as  the  leaves 
unfold,  you  see  in  the  centre  this  exquisitely  beautiful  image 
of  a  dove,  body,  head,  neck,  wings  outstretched,  pure  white 
and  perfect.  There  are  many  beautiful  flowers,  the  wax 
plant  prettier  than  any ;  fine  roses. 


UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  Aug.  21,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER  : 

To  my  surprise,  I  have  not  found  the  insects  here  as 
numerous  or  so  annoying  as  at  home,  though  there  are 
creatures  I  have  not  seen  that  infest  the  houses,  whose  bite 
is  almost  deadly,  a  kind  of  scorpion,  that  crawls  to  the  ceil 
ing  and  drops  upon  the  bed.  They  are  as  large  as  a  small 
crawfish,  and  sometimes  one  is  covered  with  fifty  others,  for 
the  young  ones  cling  to  and  cover  the  mother,  whom  they 
ultimately  eat  up.  Fortunately,  they  will  not  bite  unless 
disturbed  ;  they  may  crawl  over  you  in  your  sleep  and  leave 
you  unhurt,  but  if  you  accidentally  touch  them,  they  use 


Letters  427 

the  sting  at  the  end  of  their  tail  with  instant  and  terrible 
effect.  The  pain  is  excessive,  sometimes  the  victim  is  seized 
with  lockjaw,  always  to  a  certain  extent  paralyzed.  The 
country  is  infested  with  many  kinds  of  serpents  not  described 
in  natural  history  ;  some  of  them  are  very  venomous,  others 
of  the  boa-constrictor  tribe  attain  to  a  very  large  size.  One 
of  these  was  killed  a  short  time  since  within  a  brief  distance 
from  the  Consulate  in  the  city  that  weighed  fifty-six  pounds, 
and  was  eighteen  feet  in  length.  There  is  a  kind  of  snake 
here,  very  long,  of  a  bright  green  color,  but  not  larger  round 
than  a  quill  ;  these  hang  and  twine  upon  the  trees  resembling 
the  trailing  vines  and  parasitical  plants,  and  are  deadly  in 
their  bite.  There  is  another  smaller  kind  of  a  vivid  green 
and  gold  color,  dazzlingly  beautiful,  whose  venom  is  incur 
able.  The  vampire  obtains  here  in  great  numbers.  An 
acquaintance  of  mine,  who  last  night  related  to  me  the  cir 
cumstance,  killed  one  of  them  in  the  church  last  Sunday, 
that  measured  twelve  inches  ;  but  this  was  considered  a 
small  specimen.  The  stories  you  have  heard  of  this  bat  are 
not  exaggerated,  on  the  contrary,  scarcely  come  up  to  the 
truth.  They  are  exceedingly  troublesome  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  They  attack  chickens  and  turkeys  on  the  roost  at 
night,  and  suck  their  blood  under  their  feet  till  they  fall  life 
less.  They  bleed  horses  and  cattle  to  death  in  a  single 
night.  If  a  native  falls  asleep,  leaving  his  toe  out  of  the 
blanket,  they  will  suck  blood  from  it,  till  their  victim  is 
almost  exhausted  and  blood  continues  to  flow  from  the 
wound  that  is  difficult  to  heal  for  days  after  the  puncture  has 
been  made.  They  do  not  bite,  but  by  means  of  warts  or 
excrescences  that  grow  about  their  mouths,  suck  a  hole 
through  the  skin,  near  a  vein  that  their  instinct  teaches 
them  to  discover,  and  while  the  process  of  suction  is  going 
on,  and  that  is  not  painful,  they  keep  up  a  constant  and 
noiseless  vibration  of  their  wings,  that  in  the  hot  night  lulls 
their  prey  to  sweetest  slumber.  I  believe  they  do  not  attack 
man  or  poultry  near  the  head  or  breast,  but  always  at  the 
toe.  Horses  they  always  seize  on  the  neck,  near  the  withers. 
They  are  an  exceedingly  ugly  creature,  somewhat  like  our 
common  bat  very  much  exaggerated,  and  with  a  crooked 


428  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

horn  on  their  head.  They  look  exactly  like  the  devil.  The 
fauna  of  the  Isthmus,  likewise,  has  been  very  much  neglected 
in  description  by  all  naturalists  whose  works  I  have  read.  I 
have  been  told  of  many  strange  animals  that  roam  the  woods, 
of  which  I  cannot  pretend  to  give  you  an  idea.  Among 
them  is  a  sort  of  tapir,  with  an  immense  snout  more  than  a 
yard  in  length;  these  are  frequently  seen  larger  than  a  Dur 
ham  cow.  There  are  several  kinds  of  ant-eaters,  great 
animals  with  mouths  not  larger  than  a  rat's,  and  with 
tongues  from  three  to  four  feet  long.  These  are  amphibious 
animals  ;  also  a  sort  of  fresh-water  sea-cow,  that  comes  out 
from  the  rivers  and  feeds  on  the  shore  ;  these  are  often  fifteen 
hundred  to  two  thousand  pounds  weight,  and  of  these  no  his 
torian  speaks.  I  have  myself  seen  here  in  the  city  many  small 
animals  that  are  kept  for  pets,  a  sort  of  marmot  or  marmo 
set,  and  a  creature  quite  black  and  resembling  our  mink; 
many  other  creatures  I  never  heard  of.  I  have  also  seen 
many  monkeys,  and  think  that  last  Sunday  I  ate  of  one,  but 
of  this  am  not  sure.  Some  of  them  are  very  small,  others  so 
large  that  yesterday  I  mistook  one  that  had  laid  down  in  the 
plaza  for  a  boy,  and  wondered  what  the  man  was  pulling 
him  along  by  a  string  for,  till  the  creature  erected  himself 
on  his  hind  legs  and  stood  almost  as  high  as  the  man's 
shoulder.  Of  the  lizard  kind  there  are  many  varieties, 
among  them  the  iguana,  that  is  eaten  and  highly  esteemed 
by  some  for  food,  though  it  is  said  if  one  indulges  too  freely 
in  the  luxury,  his  skin  becomes  covered  with  a  sort  of  scaly 
eruption.  Their  eggs  are  also  deemed  a  delicacy,  and  some 
times  they  catch  the  creature,  cut  it  open,  take  from  it  its 
eggs  and  let  it  go,  to  recover  for  further  operations.  These 
iguanas  grow  to  a  great  size,  some  of  them  measuring  five 
or  six  feet.  To  the  ornithologist,  no  more  interesting 
field  is  open.  Rare  birds  of  every  hue  in  plumage,  and 
some  with  the  clearest,  richest,  purest  note  you  can  imagine, 
abound.  Parrots  and  parroquets  are  very  numerous,  and 
easily  tamed.  They  offer  them  for  half  a  dollar  and  upwards. 
The  humming-birds  are  exquisite.  Quail  abound,  and  the 
guinea-fowl  in  two  sizes  are  wild  here.  There  is  one 
song  bird,  whose  whistle  is  louder,  clearer,  far  more  musical 


Letters 


429 


than  that  of  any  bird  I  ever  listened  to,  that  is  often 
caged.  They  are  about  the  size  of  a  robin,  but  of  va 
riegated  plumage  of  a  rich  gold  and  jet  black,  something 
like  a  goldfinch.  They  perform  almost  one  entire  bar. 
The  insect  world  is  rich  in  butterflies,  and  these  I  have 
no  language  to  describe,  so  glittering  is  their  color,  so  large 
is  their  size.  Some  specimens  have  been  sold  for  an  ounce, 
or  what  would  be  worth  with  you  twenty-five  dollars.  For 
fish,  there  are  many  varieties,  some  of  which  are  very 
good  eating,  while  the  gold  and  silver  fish  abound.  Sharks 
are  very  plentiful,  and  large  schools  of  the  black  whale  are 
often  seen  spouting  in  the  harbor.  I  wrote  in  my  last  letter 
that  one  had  been  taken,  and  yesterday  another  was  caught 
by  the  crew  of  a  whaler  that  had  just  come  to  anchor.  The 
pearl  oysters  abound  near  the  Pearl  Islands  of  Panama,  some 
forty  miles  distant.  I  have  not  visited  them  as  yet,  but  ex 
pect  to  shortly.  There  are  now  employed  upon  these  islands 
an  average  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  native  divers.  A  boat, 
or  submarine  explorer  as  it  is  called,  has  been  invented,  and 
is  now  here,  by  means  of  which  it  is  expected  that  larger 
and  finer  pearls  and  shells  than  have  ever  before  been 
brought  to  light,  will  be  fished  up.  The  usual  method  of 
fishing  is  attended  with  many  disadvantages  and  dangers. 
The  divers  cannot  go  beyond  a  certain  depth,  about  seven 
fathoms.  They  are  at  all  times  in  danger  of  an  attack  from 
the  Tinteros  ground  sharks  and  Macugos.  They  can  only 
work  three  hours  per  day,  just  before  and  after  low  slack 
water,  on  account  of  the  heavy  currents.  These  difficulties, 
it  is  expected,  by  the  use  of  new  and  improved  machinery, 
will  be  overcome.  I  have  as  yet  been  very  little  distance 
into  the  country,  so  that  I  cannot  very  well  describe  the 
forests  or  the  flora.  The  latter  I  imagine  from  what  speci 
mens  I  have  seen  must  be  inexpressibly  beautiful.  In  former 
times  there  were  nunneries  here,  and  as  relics  many  a  rose 
now  blooms  from  scions  of  bushes  planted  by  the  sisterhood, 
of  a  size,  beauty,  and  fragrance  almost  indescribable ;  some 
of  these,  with  dahlias  and  other  flowers  of  our  own,  I  have 
seen  and  recognized  with  pleasant  memories  ;  but  the 
strange  and  wonderfully  beautiful  flowers  and  shrubs  in 
digenous  to  the  soil  are  seen  only  here. 


430  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

The  funeral  of  a  young  girl  passed  my  door  not  long 
since,  the  first  funeral  I  have  witnessed  here.  First  in 
procession  was  borne  a  table  covered  with  a  white  silk 
cloth,  and  on  this  was  strewn  a  profusion  of  flowers ; 
then  came  a  very  handsome  coffin  slung  in  white  silken 
bands,  one  end  of  each  being  carried  by  a  bearer  and 
two  small  boys  holding  ribbons  attached,  marching  a  little 
in  front  ;  after  this  a  crowd  of  well  dressed  men,  not  in 
marching  order,  but  in  groups,  many  of  them  smoking,  and 
the  cortege  brought  up  by  a  priest  well  dressed,  who  for 
this  occasion  was  not  smoking,  although  many  of  them  do 
as  they  walk  along  the  streets  in  their  long  black  cloaks. 
You  would  be  amused  to  see  them  carry  their  babies  here ; 
the  imps  are  generally  quite  naked,  and  they  all  ride, 
straddled,  on  the  mother's  or  nurses'  hips,  clinging  like 
little  monkeys.  I  took  one  of  them  in  my  hands  the  other 
day,  it  felt  queer  and  cold  like  a  fish.  You  ask  if  I  was  sea 
sick  during  my  voyage.  Not  in  the  least,  nor  can  I  say  I 
made  either  friends  or  many  acquaintances.  It  was  a  week 
of  rest  to  me,  and  upon  the  whole  I  enjoyed  it,  though  I 
think  life  at  sea  rather  a  humdrum  affair  after  the  first  day 
or  two.  There  is  very  little  romance  about  it,  and  I  dare 
say  Miss  Eliza  Cook,  who  wrote  A  Life  on  the  Ocean  Wave, 
had  never  been  to  sea. 

This  morning  I  saw  a  lady  standing  in  the  balcony  of  the 
hotel  with  her  hair  down  and  combed  back,  and  though  she 
was  tall  or  taller  than  you,  it  came  within  two  or  three 
inches  of  touching  the  ground.  It  is  very  common  for  ladies 
to  wear  their  hair  in  this  way,  even  in  the  evening,  but 
always  in  the  morning  at  home.  They  are  passionately 
fond  of  dancing,  and  dance  well.  Their  dances,  for  the  most 
part,  are  like  ours,  the  round  dances  being  the  favorites, 
except  the  Spanish  dance,  which  is  peculiar  and  very  fascin 
ating.  They  have  card-tables,  at  which  high  play  goes  on, 
and  the  dancers  leave  the  floor  to  take  a  chance,  and  having 
played  a  while  resume  the  dance.  The  Bishop  goes  to  all 
the  balls  and  parties  attended  by  his  chaplain,  and  joins 
in  the  festivities,  except  that  he  don't  dance.  He  seems 


Letters  43 1 

to  be  a  very  clever  man,  and  I  have  become  acquainted 
with  him.  The  ladies  dress  very  expensively  and  in  very 
good  taste,  many  of  the  dresses  being  imported  from  Paris. 
They  marry  very  young.  I  know  a  lady  who  has  been 
married  twelve  years,  who  has  buried  two  children,  and 
who  has  now  seven  living,  the  youngest  being  about  two 
months,  who  is  only  twenty-six  years  old,  and  is  very 
handsome.  She  danced  at  all  the  balls.  A  young  lady 
was  pointed  out  to  me  the  other  day  as  being  not  quite 
fourteen,  and  she  will  be  married  soon.  I  thought  she 
was  twenty.  They  are  mostly  very  brunette,  though  I  have 
seen  some  nearly  blonde.  All  have  been  very  polite  to  me, 
though,  as  but  few  of  them  talk  French  and  none  of  them 
Bnglish,  it  does  not  cost  much,  as  we  have  little  to  say  to 
each  other.  There  are  no  schools  here,  and  I  imagine  they 
are  not  very  cultivated.  At  lyima  and  Valparaiso,  you  find 
the  most  fascinating  Spanish  women.  The  wife  of  my  ser 
vant  was  an  English  governess,  and  is  said  to  be  accom 
plished,  speaking  French,  Spanish,  etc.,  and  expected  to 
keep  a  school,  but  fell  into  bad  health  and  was  compelled  to 
marry  my  servant.  He  is  a  colored  man  from  Jamaica,  and 
thus  far  makes  me  a  tolerably  good  servant.  I  have  recently 
had  a  visit  from  Admiral  Palmer  of  our  navy.  .  .  .  There 
is  a  pretty  fair  society  of  navy  men.  Captain  Spicer  of  the 
Dakota  is  a  clever  fellow  and  a  fine  musician.  We  have 
no  lack  of  music,  and  of  first  rate  quality,  piano,  guitar, 
flute,  and  vocal  music.  An  Italian  troop  passed  through 
to  Guatemala  the  other  day  and  gave  a  concert.  Indeed,  I 
had  concert  from  them  all  the  while  they  were  here,  three 
or  four  days,  as  they  occupied  the  next  room  to  me.  I 
enclose  you  a  ticket.  Panama  is  an  expensive  place,  and 
all  live  as  if  to-day  was  the  last  day. 


UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  Sept.  17,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  write  a  few  lines  in  anticipation  of  the  arrival  of  the 
coming  mail  due  iyth  inst.     I  shall  sail  for  San  Francisco  in 


432  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  steamer  Montana  that  leaves  this  port  that  day,  unless  I 
am  withheld  by  some  unanticipated  intelligence  from  the 
States.  It  is  my  intention  to  remain  in  California  some  six 
or  seven  days;  therefore,  if  I  start  on  the  igth,  the  voyage 
requiring  thirteen  days,  I  shall  arrive,  barring  accident,  on 
the  3d  October,  remaining  in  San  Francisco  till  the  gth  Oc 
tober.  I  shall  return  to  this  point  on  or  about  the  23d  Octo 
ber.  So  that  you  will  not  receive  intelligence  of  me  again  till 
the  arrival  of  the  Montana  steamer.  I  will  write  immediately 
on  my  arrival  at  San  Francisco,  though  I  shall  be  the  bearer 
of  my  own  letters  part  of  the  way  home.  My  despatches 
per  this  steamer  will  not  be  of  a  very  interesting  character. 
No  events  of  importance  have  transpired,  and  I  have  not  felt 
particularly  like  writing.  On  Saturday  last  I  made  a  voy 
age  to  Taboga,  one  of  the  islands  of  the  bay,  and  was  hand 
somely  entertained  by  a  British  man-of-war,  lying  there,  that 
gave  me  a  salute  of  nine  guns,  and  a  fine  dinner.  I  was 
also  entertained  on  board  a  large  Australian  steamer,  the 
Rakaiva,  Captain  Millet,  with  lunch,  and  on  shore  at  dinners, 
breakfasts,  etc.,  by  the  Superintendent  of  the  works,  a 
highly  accomplished  Scotchman,  by  the  name  of  Nuss.  He 
has  a  large  force,  several  hundred  men,  under  him,  workers 
in  iron,  brass,  and  the  machinery  for  ships.  I  returned  on 
the  fine  Guatemala  steamer,  Talca,  well  pleased  with  my 
voyage  and  visit,  that  did  me  good  in  the  change  of  air. 
Last  night  was  the  occasion  of  the  largest  and  most  elegant 
ball  ever  given  in  Panama.  It  was  got  up  by  the  foreigners 
and  given  to  the  Panameros.  The  whole  hotel  was  ap 
propriated  to  the  purpose,  a  flooring  laid  in  the  large  court 
for  dancing,  and  the  balconies  festooned  with  the  flags  of 
all  nations.  I  am  frank  to  say  that  I  never  saw  so  fine  a 
ball  given  anywhere.  The  ladies  were  richly  dressed  ;  the 
supper,  wines,  etc.,  were  most  superb  and  bountiful,  and  the 
dancing  and  gambling  was  kept  up  till  six  o'clock  this  morn 
ing,  I  know.  How  much  longer  I  cannot  say,  for  at  that 
hour  I  left.  You  would  have  been  amused  to  see  me  take 
charge  ...  of  the  very  Reverend  Bishop  of  Panama, 
with  whom  I  am  apparently  a  favorite.  I  took  the  old 
gentleman  .  .  .  out  to  the  wine  room  and  regaled  him 


Letters 


433 


on  champagne  punch  to  his  heart's  content.  He  always 
mingles  with  the  festivities  here.  .  .  .  The  passion  for 
these  amusements  pervades  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men 
and  women  in  these  countries.  I  cannot  complain  of  any  lack 
of  civility  or  politest  courtesy  on  the  part  of  all  public  func 
tionaries  and  private  citizens  towards  myself ;  indeed,  I  have 
been  overwhelmed  with  attention,  and  my  flag  has  had  all 
the  honors.  I  delivered  a  speech  last  night,  and  was  the 
author  of  some  toasts  and  sentiments. 

I  believe  I  have  written  you  that  the  Bay  of  Panama  is  so 
called  from  the  immense  number  of  fish  that  swarm  in  the 
waters.  The  word  in  the  vernacular  signifying  ' '  fishy. ' '  I 
never  had  an  opportunity  till  my  visit  to  Taboga  to  have 
ocular  demonstration  of  the  aptness  of  the  designation.  The 
water  is  perfectly  clear,  so  clear  that  you  can  look  many, 
many  feet,  more  than  thirty,  beneath  the  surface,  and  for 
hours  I  stood  watching  fish  of  the  most  brilliant  and  beauti 
ful  colors  you  can  imagine,  disporting  themselves,  or  seeking 
their  prey.  No  word  painting  can  convey  an  idea  of  the 
brilliancy  of  the  hue  or  the  variety  of  coloring  that  these 
fish  present.  Their  appearance  darting  through  the  bright 
and  perfectly  clear  water,  reminds  you  of  an  Arabian  tale. 
Indeed,  I  have  never  read  anything  in  the  wildest  romance 
that  ever  came  before  my  eye  to  equal  what  nature  and  the 
everyday  occurrences  of  life  present.  The  most  vivid  and 
ingenious  imagination  sinks  into  insignificance  before  the 
great  Creator  and  the  works  of  Nature. 


ON  BOARD  STEAMSHIP  "  MONTANA," 

PACIFIC  OCEAN,  Sept.  21,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER  BETTIE: 

We  have  a  right  staunch  ship,  and  a  clever  captain  and 
good  crew.  We  are  bowling  along  over  a  summer  sea, 
through  the  soft  air  of  the  tropics,  at  the  rate  of  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  a  day,  our  course  is  N.  W.  and  \  W. 
We  have  passed  out  of  the  Gulf  of  Panama,  and  are  now 


434  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

hauling  up  north,  and  after  a  while  when  we  have  taken  an 
observation,  before  closing  this  letter  I  will  give  you  our 
latitude  and  longitude,  so  that  by  reference  to  your  map, 
you  can  indicate  our  position.  We  have  upwards  of  five 
hundred  passengers,  among  them  a  party  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  who  have  started  on  a  pleasure  excursion  to 
make  a  voyage  quite  around  the  world.  From  San  Fran 
cisco  they  will  take  passage  on  this  company's  splendid 
steamer  China  for  China  and  the  Bast  Indies  ;  after  travers 
ing  that  wonderful  country,  they  will  sail  for  Burope,  and 
expect  to  be  back  in  New  York  within  nine  months  from 
the  time  of  starting.  They  are  pleasant  and  companionable 
people  of  New  York,  though  one  of  the  gentlemen,  I  think, 
is  dying  of  consumption.  I  helped  his  wife  to  minister  to 
him  to-day,  and  fear  he  will  not  live  to  his  journey's  end. 
We  have  also  a  lively  and  musical  set  of  bright  colored  pas 
sengers  from  Germany  in  the  shape  of  one  thousand  canary 
birds,  who  are  emigrating  to  California,  each  in  his  own  tiny 
wicker  cage  in  company  with  some  blackbirds,  thrushes, 
bob-o' links  and  guinea-pigs,  not  forgetting  some  Poland 
chickens  with  top-knots,  all  in  charge  of  their  owner,  a 
stout,  florid-looking  fellow,  who  makes  three  or  four  of  these 
trips  every  year,  and  who  is  wonderfully  expeditious  in 
cleaning,  feeding,  and  watering  his  flock.  Such  a  chirping, 
chattering  and  warbling  as  a  thousand  canaries  make  at  feed 
ing  time  you  never  heard.  We  have  on  board  one  hundred 
and  sixty-two  children.  One  of  these  last  interesting  speci 
mens  strolled  into  my  state-room  yesterday,  and  gobbled  up 
two  of  my  shoes,  leaving  me  quite  in  despair,  as  they  were 
odd  shoes,  and  the  two  left  were  for  the  same  foot.  I  had 
the  ship  searched  to  no  end,  and  had  quite  given  them  up  as 
the  prey  of  the  spoiler,  when  my  cabin  boy  returned  with 
the  boots  triumphantly,  having  discovered  them  stowed  away 
with  a  tin  trumpet  among  the  mother's  clothes.  I  receive  a 
great  deal  of  consideration  on  board  ship,  having  been  given 
my  choice  of  state-rooms,  and  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
captain  at  dinner,  a  distinction  much  sought  after.  The 
captain  is  profoundly  polite,  has  given  me  the  run  of  his 
own  cabin,  presented  me  with  a  case  of  wine,  and  turned 


Letters  435 

over  his  own  steward  as  my  special  body  servant.  If  the 
ship  was  my  own  private  yacht,  I  could  not  have  more  care 
and  attention  or  more  luxury.  Ex-Senator  Gwin,  or  Duke 
Gwin  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  ...  is  aboard,  and  I 
cannot  but  contrast  our  relative  positions  now  and  what  they 
were  ten  years  ago,  when  he  was  the  proud  Senator  from 
California. 


All  day  yesterday,  that  was  bright  and  pleasant,  we 
coasted  along  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Panama  and  Parida, 
land  and  islands  almost  constantly  in  sight,  the  shores 
clothed  with  densest  forest  to  the  water's  edge,  except  here 
and  there  where  lofty  rocks  would  rear  their  gaunt  forms 
against  the  sky.  With  the  naked  eye  we  could  observe  the 
graceful  palms  throwing  their  long  branches  over  the  waves 
that  rippled  at  their  feet,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  glass,  we 
could  discern  the  fruit  hanging  in  ripe  clusters.  The  view 
and  voyage  were  enchanting,  and  only  needed  companion 
ship  of  the  loved  to  make  it  Paradise.  The  temperature  is 
invariable,  about  85°  ;  the  air  humid,  and  the  rushing 
motion  of  the  ship  cleaving  her  way  through  the  billows 
gives  always  on  the  deck  an  inspiriting  breeze.  I  am 
taking  back  my  health  with  every  inspiration,  and  as  I  pass 
through  the  Golden  Gate  shall  be  a  new  man.  Now  as  I 
write  we  are  quite  out  to  sea,  and  far  out  of  sight  of  land. 
At  12.45  P.M.  passed  and  exchanged  signals  with  steamer 
Golden  City  from  San  Francisco,  bound  to  Panama,  427 
miles.  At  3  P.M.  our  course  was  N.  W.  Cape  Blanco  abeam. 
Passed  Point  Gilones  at  6.30  P.M.  distant  7  miles.  You 
will  perceive  we  are  running  along  the  coast,  passing  Costa 
Rica,  San  Salvador,  Guatemala.  From  7  P.M.  to  midnight, 
constant  heavy  rains,  frequent  vivid  lightning,  and  terrific 
thunder. 

Sunday,  September  22d.  This  day  comes  in  variable 
winds  and  dark  raining  weather  ;  at  midnight  course  N.  W. 
by  W.  i  N.,  at  6  A.M.  moderate  breeze  from  the  South. 
Nothing  in  sight  this  forenoon.  Rose  very  early,  took,  as 
is  my  habit,  a  cold  salt  bath.  As  I  sat  astern  reading,  a 


436  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

sweet  little  bird,  about  the  size  of  a  Java  sparrow,  with,  beau 
tiful  plumage,  flew  on  board  and  lit  at  my  very  feet.  The 
little  wanderer  was  very  tired,  almost  exhausted,  but  he 
would  not  permit  me  to  catch  him.  Still  he  would  not  fly 
away  from  the  ship,  and  after  I  had  driven  him  into  the 
main  saloon  I  gave  up  the  pursuit.  The  captain  and  a  dele 
gation  of  the  passengers  came  to  me  to  ask  that  I  would 
conduct  Divine  service,  attracted,  I  suppose,  by  my  position 
and  perhaps  uniform.  I  am  all  unused  to  making  sacrifice 
before  the  Lord,  but  ' '  the  cause  that  needs  assistance,  the 
wrong  that  needs  resistance,  the  future  in  the  distance,  and 
the  good  that  I  can  do, ' '  is  my  motto.  So  I  possessed  my 
self  of  prayer-book  and  Bible,  studied  out  the  lessons  of  the 
day,  and  at  the  appointed  hour,  took  my  stand  in  the  large 
saloon,  behind  a  table  spread  with  an  American  flag,  myself 
arrayed  in  full  regimentals,  and  surrounded  by  the  Captain, 
as  many  of  the  ship's  company  as  were  off  duty,  and  all  of 
the  passengers  who  could  crowd  in,  making  a  congregation 
of  four  or  five  hundred  souls.  I  gave  them  the  Church  Ser 
vice,  with  the  proper  lessons  of  the  day  from  Jeremiah  and 
Luke,  a  couple  of  psalms  and  hymns,  an  exhortation  and 
dismissal,  and  the  most  of  them  went  off  with  opinion  I  had 
been  bred  to  the  Church. 

And  now,  my  dear  daughter,  in  the  presence  of  a  mighty 
storm,  gradually  growing  worse,  I  bid  you  adieu.  May 
God  bless  and  preserve  you  and  take  the  place  of  your 
earthly  father  in  giving  that  protection  you  so  much  need 


now. 


SAN  MATEO,  CALIFORNIA,  October  9,  1867. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

The  weather,  however,  is  gloriously  beautiful,  and  would 
seem  to  be  perfectly  healthy  for  all.  I  cannot  now  give  my 
impressions  of  California.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  write 
now  as  I  would,  ideas  throng  so  fast  that  expression  is  lost 
to  me.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  all  I  ever  thought  or  dreamed 


Letters  437 

of  this  wonderful,  glorious  land  is  more  than  realized.  The 
whole  earth  is  fecund  with  animal  and  vegetable  life.  The 
choicest  blessings  have  been  showered  with  the  most  lavish 
hand  of  a  merciful  and  bountiful  Providence  upon  a  chosen 
people.  To  descend  to  particulars  I  cannot  ;  all  I  might  say 
would  serve  to  give  but  the  faintest  idea.  I  have  been  par 
ticularly  favored  in  the  facilities  offered  me  for  coming  in 
contact  with  the  leading  men  of  San  Francisco  ;  indeed  I 
may  say  of  the  State  at  large,  and  all  of  my  time  since  my 
arrival  has  been  fully  occupied.  The  people  have  welcomed 
me  with  a  warm  welcome,  such  as  one  might  expect  in  re 
turning  to  his  home.  I  have  been  taken  to  their  houses  and 
hearts  as  a  brother.  At  this  time  I  am  a  sojourner  and 
guest  with  Col.  Hayward  of  San  Mateo,  at  his  country  seat 
in  that  town  and  county,  about  twenty  miles  from  San  Fran 
cisco.  He  discovered  and  worked  successfully  a  gold 
mine,  and  his  energy,  integrity,  perseverance,  courage,  and 
indomitable  will  are  as  marked  and  as  boundless  as  the 
wealth  of  the  mine  which  has  made  his  name  famous 
throughout  the  world.  This  gentleman  has  turned  his 
house,  grounds,  stables,  all  they  contain  over  to  me  to  use 
as  my  own.  Indeed,  has  left  me  in  full  occupancy,  and 
would  be  well  pleased  if  I  could  enjoy  for  a  much  longer 
time  than  I  can  spare  part  of  the  blessings  poured  out  upon 
him.  It  would  take  pages  to  describe  this  earthly  paradise. 
The  grounds,  fruits,  flowers,  trees,  birds,  poultry,  horses, 
cows,  and  all  that  go  to  make  up  a  splendid  seat  on  the 
shore  of  the  most  beautiful  bay  in  the  world,  in  the  most  per 
fect  climate  in  the  world,  enriched  with  all  that  taste,  and 
genius  and  art  and  wealth  could  suggest  and  procure.  He  has 
two  race  tracks  of  a  mile  in  extent  each,  and  among  his  othe*r 
trainers  has  Hiram  Woodruff's  right  hand  man,  who  studied 
the  art  of  horses  under  that  genius  for  fourteen  years.  Mr. 
Hayward  owns  and  trains  a  number  of  racehorses  both  for 
the  turf  and  trotting  course,  but  never  permits  one  to  appear 
in  a  public  race,  or  make  a  trial  of  speed  for  money.  He 
keeps  up  a  racing  stud  of  over  a  hundred  horses  only  for  his 
own  amusement.  Everything  else  with  him  is  upon  the 
same  scale.  The  wealth  and  manner  of  life  of  these  men  is 


438  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

incredible.  Mr.  Ralston,  the  brother  of1  Walter's  friend,  is 
another  of  the  successful  ones.  He  has  a  place  a  few  miles 
above  this,  say  twenty-five  miles  from  the  city,  and  drives  in 
and  out  every  day  on  wheels,  driving  himself  four-in-hand 
with  relays,  and  accomplishing  the  distance  invariably, 
morning  and  evening,  in  two  hours. 

Cisco,  CALIFORNIA,  Oct.  16,  1867. 

I  cannot  say  this  time  thus  far  have  I  penetrated  the 
bowels  of  the  land,  but  I  may  say  thus  far  have  I  ascended 
to  its  highest  peaks.  At  the  present  writing  I  am  at  the 
end  of  the  great  Pacific  Railroad,  as  far  as  they  have  been 
able  up  to  this  time  to  lay  the  track  on  this  side  of  the  moun 
tains.  I  am  in  Placer  County,  on  the  confines  of  Nevada 
County,  in  the  State  of  California,  five  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  within  a  few  hundred  feet 
of  the  summit  level  of  the  Nevada  Mountains  that  is  only 
fifteen  miles  distant.  I  am  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
from  San  Francisco,  six  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  Salt 
Lake.  So  much  for  position.  My  health  is  better,  but  I 
have  a  terrible  cough  and  cold,  the  result  of  change,  nothing 
of  any  consequence,  except  the  temporary  inconvenience.  I 
have  only  a  single  moment  to  write  ere  the  train  starts  back. 
I  shall  go  no  farther  up  as  the  atmosphere  is  intensely  rarified 
and  the  weather  is  bitterly  cold  ;  moreover  I  am  pushed  for 
time,  as  I  want  to  start  back  for  Panama  on  the  igth,  though 
I  may  possibly  be  detained.  I  wish  you  could  see  me  as  I 
write  and  the  rugged  face  of  nature  grimly  frowns  upon  me. 
Every  mountainside  and  valley  hereabouts  is  teased  and  torn 
for  the  precious  ore.  Miners,  Chinese,  hardy  men  of  all 
sorts  are  about  me. 


ON  BOARD  STEAMER  "  GOLDEN  CITY," 
IN  THE  GULF  OF  PANAMA,  October  31,  1867. 

I  shall  probably  be  too  busy  on  my  arrival  at  Panama, 
which  we  expect  to  make  to-morrow  morning,  to  be  able  to 

1  His  brother,  Walter  G.  Smith  of  the  SS.  Cortes,  b.  1828,  d.  1859. 


Letters  439 

write,  and  I  have  had  a  strange  indisposition,  that  I  have 
been  unable  all  the  voyage  to  overcome,  to  write  to  anybody. 
Notwithstanding  I  had  determined  to  take  advantage  of  the 
leisure  to  give  you  full  detail  of  my  travels  and  adventures  ; 
coming  down  from  a  bracing  climate  to  the  tropics  relaxes 
my  nerves  and  unfits  me  for  fatigue.  I  think  my  health 
considerably  improved,  and  for  many  accounts  am  glad  I 
made  the  voyage,  my  only  regret  being  that  I  could  not  re 
main  longer  in  California.  Our  trip  down  has  been  so  ex 
ceedingly  pleasant,  there  having  been  good  company  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  among  the  latter  Senators  Stewart 
and  Conness,  friends  of  mine,  and  some  army  officers. 
Hilarity  and  much  mirth  has  prevailed,  and  a  most  pleasant 
voyage  secured. 


PANAMA,  Oct.  12,  1868. 

I  arrived  here  Saturday  last  safe  and  without  accident 
from  my  voyage  that  was  devoid  of  interest  or  incident  other 
than  would  arise  from  a  most  uncomfortably  crowded  ship. 
An  opposition  line  has  had  the  effect  of  reducing  fares,  that 
results  in  many  persons  whose  proper  place  is  in  the  steerage 
finding  their  way  into  the  first-class  cabin.  Moreover,  emi 
gration  is  stimulated,  and  a  ship  calculated  to  carry  three  or 
four  hundred  comfortably,  brought  eight  hundred  passengers 
and  a  hundred  soldiers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  multitude  of 
children  that  are  not  counted.  Nevertheless,  sandwiched  as 
I  was  between  a  Jew  and  a  young  midshipman,  in  a  narrow 
and  contracted  stateroom,  sleeping  on  a  wet  mattress,  in  a 
berth  not  long  enough  or  large  enough  for  a  liberal  coffin, 
sitting  all  the  day  in  wet  shoes,  and  harassed  with  a  multi 
tude  of  children  in  all  stages  of  disease,  of  which  hives, 
smallpox,  and  measles  were  most  prevalent,  and  dieted  on 
foul  and  ill-cooked  food,  I  managed  to  get  through  in  better 
health  than  when  I  left  home,  and  at  present  writing  am 
stronger  than  when  I  took  my  sad  farewell  from  you.  I  find 
Panama  in  a  state  of  revolution  that  is  pregnant  with  battle 
and  murder  by  the  dagger  and  the  bowl  ;  assassination  by 


440  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

poison  is  frequent.  An  expedition  is  being  fitted  out  for 
"  Chiriqui,"  soldiers  are  being  conscripted,  leading  citizens 
incarcerated  to  force  loans,  and  all  the  excitement,  panics, 
outrage,  incident  to  the  preliminaries  of  war  among  a  semi- 
savage  and  infuriated  people  obtain  in  this  theatre,  of  which 
my  flag  forms  the  drop  curtain.  My  advent  was  hailed 
with  great  joy  arid  acclaim,  particularly  by  those  who  repre 
sent  the  interest  of  the  transit,  and  indeed  all  foreigners. 
The  self-styled  President  of  Panama,  and  he  who  represents 
the  party  in  power  (and  that  considers  itself  the  Govern 
ment),  is  named  Correoso,  a  half-blooded  negro,  upon  whom 
I  propose  to  call  in  person  to-day.  This  Government  admits 
that  it  is  revolutionary,  and  is  opposed  by  a  party  of  about 
equal  numbers,  headed  by  a  prefect  of  department  called 
Santiago  Agnero,  who,  with  a  force  well  equipped  and 
armed,  is  waiting  the  conflict  about  to  be  forced.  The  prob 
lems  of  these  Governments,  de  facto  and  dejure,  in  a  constant 
convulsion  and  frequent  revolution,  are  not  only  difficult  to 
solve,  but  well  nigh  impossible  to  state  to  the  correct  under 
standing  of  those  unfamiliar  with  language  and  customs  of  a 
race  depraved  by  miscegenation.  These  revolutionists,  this 
Government  is  to-day  a  government  of  negroes  or  their  rep 
resentatives.  These  are  the  Radicals  of  Panama,  self-styled 
Radicals,  and  answer  to  the  Radical  Party  of  the  States.  It 
is  shocking  to  see  the  excesses  committed  and  the  vast  and 
varied  interests  jeopardized  by  the  recognition  of  what  those 
now  in  power  consider  their  political  rights,  but  until  they 
are  suppressed  by  an  armed  and  stronger  force  I  am  bound 
to  recognize  them.  I  see  here  to-day  what  will  be  apparent 
ere  long  in  the  fairest  portion  of  our  own  fair  land.  In  that 
day  and  hour  God  help  the  weak. 

Aside  from  these  internal  convulsions,  upon  which  I  will 
not  longer  dwell,  Panama  is  increasing  in  importance  as  a 
commercial  centre,  while  its  isthmus  is  the  great  highway  of 
the  nations  for  the  entire  world.  There  are  now  arriving 
and  departing  from  this  port  and  Aspinwall  (the  same  thing 
and  identical  in  interest)  twenty-eight  steamers  per  month, 
foreign  steamers,  nearly  every  day  a  larger  number  of 
foreign  regular  liners  than  leaves  any  other  port  in  the 


Letters  44 1 

world.  These  connect  with  New  York,  San  Francisco, 
Australia,  Liverpool,  Saint  Nazaire,  France,  Lima,  Central 
America,  China,  Japan,  the  British  possessions  in  India,  the 
South  Pacific,  New  Zealand,  Southampton,  Valparaiso, 
Grey  town,  Carthagena,  and  ports  along  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
Havana  and  West  India  Islands,  connecting  with  all  lines 
of  steamers  running  from  thence.  It  is  not  easy  to  take  in 
without  considerable  reflection  the  vast  idea  of  travel  that  all 
this  suggests,  or  of  the  vast  and  varied  interests  that  are 
directly  here  at  stake,  and  that  are  at  this  moment  trifled 
with  and  trenched  upon  by  a  parcel  of  marauding  savages. 


PANAMA,  Oct.  28,  1868. 

The  last  steamer  brought  me  no  letters.  .  .  The 
papers  advise  you  of  the  political  troubles  of  this  country 
that  is  now  in  an  active  state  of  revolution.  The  seat  of 
war  is  at  a  distance,  and  we  hear  of  battles  and  their  results 
from  time  to  time.  The  conservation  of  American  interests 
and  the  protection  of  its  citizens  resident  here  is  the  most 
onerous  of  my  duties. 

By  last  advices  I  see  the  Radicals  are  carrying  the  State 
elections,  whereby  the  success  of  Grant  is  assured.  The 
suicidal  policy  of  Seymour,  Vallandigham,  and  their  selfish 
policy  is  at  once  expected  and  its  results  not  unexpected  by 
me. 


PANAMA,  Nov.  16,  1868. 
MY  DEAR  SON  DKHON  : 

I  have  just  received  a  present  of  grapes  and  pears  grown 
in  California.  One  of  these  last,  placed  by  myself  upon  ac 
curate  letter  scales,  weighed  one  and  a  half  pounds.  Now, 
allowing  for  shrinkage  in  a  voyage  of  fifteen  days,  and  for 
the  fact  that  the  fruit  must  have  been  plucked  green  to  in 
sure  its  transportation  through  the  tropics  without  rot,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  it  would  have  weighed  in  its  full  ripeness 


442  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

and  size  at  least  two  pounds,  if  not  more.  You  may  judge 
of  its  magnitude  when  I  tell  you  it  was  fifteen  inches  in  the 
larger  circumference,  and  fourteen  inches  measuring  from 
the  stem  round,  being  a  little  broader  than  long,  larger  than 
a  pint  cup.  The  flavor  was  not  very  good  because  pulled 
unripe. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  many  pears  larger  than  the  one  de 
scribed  came  down  with  the  lot.  They  bring  immense 
apples,  and  beets,  and  other  roots  from  San  Francisco,  most 
of  their  flavor  lost  before  arrival. 

You  would  laugh  to  see  three  monkeys  we  have  here,  or 
rather  one  monkey  and  two  marmosets,  little  fellows  about 
the  size  and  something  the  appearance  of  a  gray  squirrel, 
save  that  the  tail  is  longer,  not  so  bushy,  and  that  their  face 
resembles  the  human  countenance.  These  creatures  are 
very  interesting  in  their  antics.  We  keep  the  larger  monkey 
tied,  the  two  smaller  in  a  box  from  which  they  are  occasion 
ally  let  out.  They  might  run  about  all  the  while  if  it  were 
not  for  their  mischievous  propensities,  for  they  will  not  leave 
the  premises.  The  monkey  that  is  tied  is  very  fond  of  one 
of  these  little  fellows,  that  he  holds  in  his  arms,  kisses, 
fondles,  and  nurses  just  as  a  mother  would  her  child,  often 
places  it  on  his  back,  where  the  little  creature  goes  to  sleep 
clinging  closely  as  he  hops  about,  and  swings  on  his  tether. 
The  companion  marmoset  he  does  not  seem  to  affect,  but  if 
his  pet  is  taken  notice  of  he  makes  jealous  outcry.  The 
rascal  has  become  very  fond  of  me,  and  always  peers  into 
my  pocket  when  I  give  him  the  chance.  He  will  eat  almost 
anything,  and  latterly  is  becoming  addicted  to  stimulants, 
not  hesitating  much  at  raw  brandy.  He  will  take  toddy  till 
he  becomes  quite  tipsy,  and  it  would  convulse  you  with 
laughter  to  see  the  varying  expressions  of  his  countenance, 
as  mobile  as  a  man's,  and  his  quaint  attitudes  as  he  passes 
"  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe. "  As  for  his  little 
favorite,  while  he  is  in  the  flush  of  his  libations  his  affection 
knows  no  bounds,  and  the  small  one,  being  equally  pleased, 
surrenders  at  discretion.  Then  he  takes  it  in  his  nervous 
hands,  holds  it  out  at  arm's-length.  turns  it  round  and  looks 
in  its  face,  chatters  and  coos  to  it,  and  finally  laying  it  down 


Letters 


443 


before  him,  proceeds  to  search  it  all  over,  fingering  its  fur, 
peering  and  peeking  just  as  close  as  ever  good  dame  did  into 
bairnie's  head.  The  protege  never  stirs  in  the  operation  till 
concluded,  when  he  is  lifted  up  to  his  perch  on  his  guardian's 
back,  when  he  puts  his  little  arms  round  his  neck  and  gently 
falls  fast  asleep.  I  have  tried  to  teach  the  larger  libel  on 
humanity  to  smoke  cigars,  but  with  indifferent  success  ;  he 
will  sit  quietly  while  I  puff  in  his  face  and  wriggle  his  nose 
and  turn  up  his  eyes  after  the  most  orthodox  style  ;  likewise 
he  will  be  inspired  by  the  usual  effect  and  become  sick  and 
stupid,  but  if  I  give  him  the  lighted  cigar,  he  burns  himself 
all  over  and  then  pulls  it  to  pieces.  The  funniest  exhibition 
you  can  imagine,  as  he  claps  the  lighted  end  first  to  one 
place  then  to  another,  and  hopping  from  the  burn,  and  de 
liberately  squatting,  seizes  the  end  of  his  tail  and  sets  fire  to 
that,  and  as  it  smokes  up,  looks  first  at  it  and  then  in  my 
face  as  if  to  ask  what  does  it  all  mean.  These  creatures 
have  all  the  passions — anger,  fear,  love,  and  revenge — that 
attaches  to  man  ;  they  never  forget  or  forgive.  I  saw  one 
of  the  larger  kind,  as  tall,  if  not  taller,  than  Grace,  march 
down  the  street,  hand  in  hand  with  a  British  sailor,  who 
was  taking  him  off  aboard  ship,  and  he  looked  like  a  little 
black  man  walking.  I  am  told  of  one  much  larger  than 
this,  down  the  coast,  that  is  left  unchained  during  the  day, 
and  that  performs  many  of  a  servant's  offices,  waiting  on 
table,  bringing  water  when  he  is  told,  etc.  Well,  I  've 
written  you  a  long  letter  on  monkeys.  What  do  you  find  to 
amuse  yourself  with  nowadays  ?  Have  you  finished  up  all 
the  novels  in  Mr.  Brotherhead's  library  ?  or  are  you  a 
mighty  hunter  ?  I  should  like  to  have  you  improve  your 
horsemanship  a  little  bit,  for  one  of  these  days  it  may  stand 
you  in  stead.  .  .  .  You  know  how  anxious  I  am  that 
you  should  excel  in  all  your  scholastic  exercises,  and  am 
sure  you  will  do  your  best.  I  want  you  to  exercise  patience 
with  your  brothers,  and  be  always  respectful  to  your  mother, 
grandmother,  and  sisters.  If  you  get  into  any  sort  of  trouble, 
no  matter  what  it  is,  always  go  straight  to  your  mother  for 
advice.  She  will  always  be  your  best  and  truest  friend  and 
the  most  competent  to  advise  you. 


444  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

I  enclose  to  you  a  bit  I  cut  from  the  newspaper,  you  can 
apply  it  if  you  see  proper.  I  believe  you  have  discovered 
some  taste  for  tobacco,  but  I  would  strenuously  advise  you 
not  to  touch  it  in  any  form  until  you  have  arrived  at  man's 
estate,  because  of  the  injurious  effect  its  use  would  have  on 
your  health.  It  being  a  season  of  war  here,  I  suppose  you 
would  like  to  know  something  about  the  warriors.  I  send 
you  some  papers  that  contain  a  pretty  fair  account.  The 
victorious  general  is  named  Correoso,  a  half-blooded  Spanish 
negro,  and  his  little  army,  about  three  hundred  strong,  is 
mostly  composed  of  negroes.  You  will  discover  by  the 
paper  that  they  have  just  returned  from  a  successful  expedi 
tion  to  Chiriqui  and  Santiago  de  Veraguas,  where  Dr.  Henry 
Dickson  lives.  By  the  bye,  I  may  here  mention  that  all  the 
inhabitants  fled  from  that  city  except  himself.  I  have  not 
heard  from  him  directly,  but  through  others,  and  that  he 
is  well.  As  I  was  writing,  Correoso  and  his  men  came  to 
port  last  evening,  and  I  rode  down  to  see  the  debarkation. 
The  army  was  composed  of  a  most  motley  crew,  and  were 
received  with  the  most  profound  demonstrations  of  delight 
by  the  party  that  favors  them.  This  party  is  composed  of 
the  black  population  and  the  half-breeds  and  mixed  races, 
who  call  themselves  "  liberals,"  and  answer  to  what  we 
call  Radicals.  The  women  turned  out  in  great  force,  about 
four  horrid,  fearfully  ugly  negresses  to  every  soldier.  Women 
of  all  ages,  all  races,  in  all  climes,  I  believe,  are  ever  ready 
to  welcome  the  victorious  soldier,  no  matter  what  cause  he 
fights  in.  The  welcome  on  this  occasion  was  a  warm  one, 
and  some  of  the  heroes  looked  as  if  they  would  like  to  be 
saved  from  their  friends.  Well,  they  were  got  into  line,  and 
with  their  little  banners  flying,  marched  up  to  the  Plaza, 
trumpets  blowing,  drums  beating,  and  bells  ringing  out  a 
most  dissonant  jingle.  Then  the  night  closed  in  and  then 
they  proceeded  to  make  it  hideous,  and  such  a  saturnalia  I 
hope  never  to  see  again.  I  believe  it  all  ended  in  sound, 
anyhow  I  have  heard  of  no  deaths.  It  seems  from  all  ac 
counts  that  they  had  a  most  savage  fight.  This  army  of 
Correoso  before  leaving  here  provided  themselves  with  an  in 
voice  of  breechloading  Peabody  rifles  that  were  on  consign- 


Letters  445 

ment  to  a  mercantile  house.  These  arms  are  formidable, 
being  easily  and  rapidly  loaded,  and  of  great  range.  These 
gave  Correoso  a  great  advantage  over  the  other  party,  and 
with  a  couple  of  small  cannon  enabled  him  to  hold  them  off 
at  arin's-length  while  he  gave  them  a  drubbing  ;  they  all 
fought  very  gallantly,  I  am  told.  Their  leader,  Obaldea, 
was  wounded  early  in  the  action  and  taken  to  some  sheltered 
place  to  lie  while  the  fight  was  going  on.  His  troops  were 
soon  driven  from  the  ground  and  he  taken  prisoner,  where 
upon  he  was  murdered,  and  his  corpse  being  fastened  by  a 
lasso  to  a  horse's  tail  was  dragged  into  the  city  in  triumph. 
Thus  you  see  these  semi-savages  emulate  some  of  the  heroes 
in  ancient  history,  both  sacred  and  profane,  in  their  treat 
ment  of  the  slain.  So  brave  were  the  soldiers,  that  I  am 
told  many  of  them  being  shot  in  the  leg  or  in  the  arm  would 
deliberately  hack  off  the  maimed  limb  with  their  machetes. 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  Dec.  13,  1868. 
MY  DEAR  SON: 

I  have  written  to  almost  everybody  at  home  excepting 
yourself,  and  though  I  have  but  little  to  say  to  you,  I  can 
not  permit  the  mail  to  go  without  taking  my  greeting.  You 
have  just  completed  the  period  of  life  that  marks  the  end  of 
boyhood  and  the  beginning  of  man's  estate.  Very  soon  the 
world  will  call  you  a  young  man,  and  now  more  than  at  any 
time  in  your  life  are  you  called  upon  to  place  a  guard  upon 
your  passions,  to  learn  self-control,  and  to  form  the  charac 
ter  that  will  stamp  your  whole  future  life.  You  will  be 
called  upon  shortly  to  gain  your  own  livelihood  in  whatever 
state  of  life  God  may  place  you.  You,  perhaps  for  yourself 
fortunately,  are  not  the  son  of  a  rich  man,  and  hence  you 
must  soon  learn  to  put  whatever  abilities  you  may  have  in 
play  to  make  yourself  in  some  way  useful  to  your  fellow- 
man,  in  order  to  win  such  reward  as  will  enable  you  to 
maintain  a  respectable  position  in  society,  without  trespass 
ing  upon  the  rights  or  privileges  of  others.  By  your  reading 
and  observation  you  will  have  learned  that  many  avenues 
are  open  to  you,  and  you  must  soon  choose  for  yourself  that 


446  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

course  in  life  that  will  yield  you  most  pleasure  and  profit  and 
enable  you  to  do  most  good  to  your  fellow-man.  You  will 
have  learned  already  that  you  are  placed  on  earth  for  some 
wise  purpose,  and  not  alone  for  selfish  gratifications,  and 
your  great  object  in  your  early  life  will  be  to  ascertain  how 
best  to  direct  the  powers  with  which  you  are  clothed.  The 
most  I  can  do  for  you  is  to  give  you  a  good  education  and  a 
decent  maintenance  while  you  are  acquiring  it,  after  that 
you  must  trust  to  God  and  your  own  good  sense,  sharpened 
by  the  experience  and  teaching  of  others.  I  do  not  intend 
to  load  you  down  with  advice.  I  throw  out  these  hints  be 
cause  I  think  it  time  you  should  learn  to  reflect  and  become 
habituated  to  what  we  term  introspection.  Few  are  able  to 
put  themselves  through  this  fearful  yet  necessary  ordeal,  but 
I  assure  you  it  is  a  matter  of  prime  necessity  every  night  to 
balance  your  books  with  God  and  man. 

I  have  faith  in  you  and  believe  you  will  succeed  in  life. 
You  must  try  to  learn  the  art  of  making  friends,  for  it  is 
mostly  through  friends  that  you  will  make  your  way. 
Do  the  best  you  can  this  year  at  your  school.     Persevere 
and  keep  up  a  bold  heart. 

"  Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime 
And  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time." 

Be  good,  be  great,  be  true  to  yourself,  fear  God,  but  fear 
no  man. 


UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  Christmas,  1868. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

I  have  been  very  ill  with  the  fever,  the  "  Calantura,"  and 
am  now  confined  to  my  bed  ten  days.  I  am  very  weak  and 
have  had  a  serious  time,  but  I  believe  the  disease  is  now  out 
of  my  system.  I  suffer  with  my  head  and  from  pains  in  my 
limbs,  but  more  than  all  from  the  dreadful  solitude,  nothing 
can  be  clone.  There  is  no  danger  of  my  death  from  this  at 
tack  that  has  passed. 


Letters  447 

UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  January  4,  1869. 

MY  DKAR  DAUGHTER: 

A  week  since  they  took  me  to  Taboga,  a  small  island, 
almost  a  rock  rising  out  of  the  sea,  where  there  is  a  hospital 
for  naval  officers,  and  there  I  have  been  sojourning  until 
yesterday  quite  alone.  On  New  Year's  day  I  mustered 
strength  to  be  rowed  over  to  the  mainland,  where  I  plucked 
an  orange  and  a  leaf  from  the  tree  on  which  it  grew  that 
I  send  you.  This  was  all  for  my  New  Year's.  My  Christ 
mas  dinner  of  chicken  broth  I  took  in  bed.  Yesterday 
on  my  return  I  found  Henry  Dickson  at  the  Consulate. 
He  had  come  down  to  visit  me  and  buy  goods,  and  I  suppose 
will  write  to  mother  by  this  mail.  I  am  still  very  feeble 
from  the  effects  of  fever,  and  the  weather  being  warm  and 
my  appetite  poor,  I  do  not  recuperate  as  fast  as  I  would 
wish,  but  I  think  after  a  while  I  shall  get  well. 


UNITED  STATES  CONSULATE, 

PANAMA,  Feb.  3,  1869. 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  voyage  to  Guatemala,  touch 
ing  en  route  at  Costa  Rica,  Salvador,  and  Honduras,  travers 
ing  a  distance  on  water  of  some  two  thousand  and  two  hun 
dred  miles.  My  weak  condition  of  health  prevented  my 
leaving  the  ship  save  for  brief  intervals,  so  that  I  can  make 
no  report  of  the  country  from  what  I  saw  except  that  portion 
apparent  upon  the  seaboard  and  the  coast,  and  two  or  three 
of  the  seaports.  I  do  not  know  that  anything  I  could  say 
about  these  would  be  interesting  to  you.  But  if  you  will 
procure  the  History  of  Columbus  by  Irving,  and,  having  read 
that,  take  up  Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico,  having  access  to 
both  works  through  the  public  library,  you  will  be  well 
repaid  in  their  perusal,  and  then  have  the  benefit  of  such 
comments  as  I  can  make  from  what  has  passed  before  my 
eyes.  The  cities  or  ports  of  Puntas  Arenas,  Costa  Rica, 
Covento,  Salvador,  San  Jose,  of  Guatemala,  or  indeed  any 
of  the  ports  on  the  coast,  differ  in  no  essential  particulars 


448  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

from  Panama,  my  descriptions  of  which  you  are  alreacty 
familiar  with.  It  is  true,  earthquakes  being  more  rife, 
the  people  do  not  venture  upon  more  than  one  story  to 
their  houses,  and  therefore,  if  it  is  possible,  there  is  more 
squalor  and  dirt.  There  is  the  same  nudity,  the  same 
apathy,  the  same  indolence  on  the  part  of  the  natives.  The 
same  greed  for  money,  and  the  same  licentiousness  on  the 
part  of  the  adventurers  from  all  nations,  who  taking  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  peril  not  only  that  life,  but  honor  and 
all,  that  to  a  good  man  makes  life  dear,  in  their  lust  for 
gain.  Whichever  way  one's  footsteps  tend,  through  this 
land  of  gold  and  silver,  pearls  and  precious  stones,  of  sandal- 
wood  and  laurel,  of  mahogany  and  caoutchoc,  of  sarsapa- 
rilla  and  balsam,  and  bark  and  indigo  and  cochineal,  and 
cocoa,  and  coffee,  and  sugar,  and  rice,  and  the  thousand 
other  luxuries  for  which  the  men  who  live  where  wheat 
grows  have  tempted  God  and  caused  blood  to  flow  in  rush 
ing  tides,  whatever  avenues  to  these  equatorial  regions  you 
seek  to  penetrate,  up  before  you  starts  the  individual  Eng 
lishman  or  Scotchman,  Frenchman,  German,  American,  of 
course,  but  in  front  and  before  all  the  cosmopolitan  Jew,  the 
Israelite  steeped  in  guile  ;  and  these,  singly  and  in  pairs, 
oppose  you,  or  cross  you,  or  join  you,  permeating  the  land, 
and  seeking  what  their  avarice  may  devour.  Small  in 
stature,  straight  in  the  forehead,  narrow-chested,  stooped, 
bandy-legged,  quick  ferret  eyes,  large  dirty  hands  with 
itching  palms,  always  the  same  age  and  pock-marked,  with 
mysterious  air,  army  shirts,  and  little  baggage,  these  creat 
ures,  on  steamboats,  on  muleback,  by  the  diligence  or  afoot, 
are  up  and  down  the  earth.  People  like  them  used  during 
the  war  to  hang  upon  the  flanks  and  in  the  rear  of  the  army, 
always  in  the  front  just  after  a  battle,  jackals,  hyenas. 
Here  they  go  in  advance,  their  scent  is  keen,  and  wherever 
they  go  they  leave  a  poison  trail  festering  in  foul  corruption; 
the  smallest  community  has  felt  their  blight,  wandering 
Jews  and  adventurers,  knowing  no  law  but  individual  in 
terest,  whose  highest  hope  is  gain.  These  are  all  you  meet, 
and  these  have  given  character,  as  far  as  such  a  quasi -social 
character  can  be  given,  to  all  the  cities  in  Southern  Ameri- 


Letters  449 

can  republics.  There  is  nothing  obvious,  but  the  bald, 
sordid  intent  for  the  "  immediate  sou;  "  none  of  the  fresh 
ness  and  vigor  of  Western  pioneer  life,  no  healthy  sport  or 
recreation,  only  acute,  sharp  trade,  The  native  element  feels 
the  influence.  Religion  of  any  sect  is  a  by  word.  What 
chance  would  Christ  or  his  Apostles  have,  could  they  come 
in  person  ?  How  can  their  theories  be  otherwise  received 
by  those  to  whom  the  Jews  our  Saviour  cast  from  the 
synagogue,  were  as  angels  in  white  raiment  ?  Oh,  how 
contemptible  to  a  fresh,  pure,  good  Cuban  or  Aztec  or 
Otaheitan  in  their  natural  state  must  a  Christian  (!)  have 
appeared,  brutalized  by  lust  and  avarice.  How  these  good 
people  these  good  radical  philanthropists  have  been  swept 
away,  and  what  have  we  in  their  place  ?  I  blush  for  Re 
ligion,  I  blush  for  Christianity,  when  I  see  their  effects.  No 
nation  that  has  felt  their  blighting  influence  but  reeks  in 
shame,  vice,  wretchedness,  or,  worse  than  all,  wealth  in 
classes,  with  its  attendant  luxury  that  is  the  parent  of  all 
other  vices.  Here,  my  daughter,  is  food  for  reflection,  and 
after  you  shall  have  read  the  works  I  have  pointed  out  to 
you,  I  want  you  to  read  the  voyages  of  Captain  Cook,  and 
meanwhile  looking  over  Irving'  s  Astoria  and  Captain  Bonne- 
ville1  s  Expedition,  with  careful  study  of  that  part  of  United 
States  history  that  appertains  to  our  relations  with  the 
Indians,  keeping  yourself  well  posted  through  the  papers  of 
the  day  with  what  is  just  now  going  on,  you  will  be  prepared 
to  look  into  the  history  of  the  Crusades,  the  seven  centuries 
war  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  Moors,  the  advance  of  the 
English  into  India,  the  history  of  the  opium  trade,  the  war 
Bngland  succeeded  in  when  founding  the  present  rela 
tions  of  England  with  the  Fiji  Islands,  Australia,  New 
Zealand;  all  of  which  you  can  post  yourself  upon  with  but 
little  exertion,  and  then,  my  dear,  I  will  be  able  to  point  out 
to  you  a  course  of  reading  that  will  stimulate  your  mind  for 
stronger  food.  We  are  in  a  progressive  age  so  far  as  the  arts 
and  science  of  manufacture  are  concerned.  Almost  all  the 
known  elements  are  bent  to  the  will  of  man.  We  claim  to  have 
advanced  in  ethics  and  in  the  science  of  man's  government  of 
man.  He  would  be  a  bold  man  to-day  who  would  presume 


450  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

to  assert  that  all  temporal  government  as  a  science  was  not 
based  upon  the  laws  of  Moses,  and  the  divine  and  sublimated 
law,  exemplified  by  the  precept  and  example  of  our  Saviour 
itself  founded  upon  those  laws.  This  we,  as  Christians, 
claim  is  the  law  of  God  that  we  are  called  upon  to  proclaim 
to  all  nations.  Our  prayer  and  our  hope  is  that  all  nations 
shall  speak  one  universal  language,  and  worship  one,  our 
God.  Study  history,  then,  and  see  what  we  have  already 
accomplished  with  these  heathen  nations  that  are  passing 
away  almost  before  our  eyes,  unannointed,  unanealed.  We 
plant  the  Cross,  and  straightway  the  light  of  the  nations 
goes  out  forever.  The  stranger  from  the  strange  land  far 
away  puts  his  foot  down,  and  straightway  the  sins  of  the 
stranger,  not  the  father,  are  visited  upon  the  children  of  the 
third,  not  the  fourth  generation,  and  lo  !  a  nation  dies  and 
leaves  no  sign  !  I  have  been  betrayed  into  something  like 
polemics,  of  which  a  traveller's  tale  seldom  savors,  and  so  I 
ask  your  indulgence.  Skip  whatever  part  it  does  not  suit 
you  to  read. 

The  most  noticeable  features  in  the  coast  line  that  seemed 
to  glide  before  us  in  the  passage  of  the  ship  like  a  panorama 
alternately  glowing  in  the  livid  light  of  day,  and  darkening 
in  the  veiled  twilight  of  these  Southern  nights,  were  the 
volcanoes  in  sight  the  Cordilleras  of  the  Andes.  Some  of 
these  peaks  tower  to  the  height  of  fourteen  thousand  feet, 
belching  forth  suphurous  flame  and  smoke  that  clouds  the 
atmosphere  far  above  their  caps,  while  the  red  lava  over 
flows  and  finds  its  way  in  rivulets  of  fire  down  the  sides,  in 
their  lurid  course  charring  and  destroying  all  impediments. 
These  mountains  lift  their  tops  so  high,  that  the  ordinary 
clouds  are  midway  skyward,  and  the  adventurer  who  would 
reach  the  summit  must  be  bathed  in  vapor  before  his  task  is 
half  completed.  On  the  brown,  bare,  lava-gashed  and 
tempest-riven  slope,  thousands  of  feet  above  the  dimpling 
sea  that  glints  beneath  his  wondering  gaze,  reflecting  back 
the  ardent  rays  of  a  vertical  sun,  shivering  in  his  altitude, 
gasping  for  breath  in  an  air  so  rarefied  that  his  lungs  almost 
refuse  their  office,  he  may  lave  his  hands  in  the  passing 
cloud;  while  the  rifts  of  vapor  drifting,  cause  his  brain  to 


Letters 

reel  as  with  upward  gaze  the  heights  on  heights,  stretching 
far,  higher  and  higher  in  nobler  and  grander  altitude,  are 
revealed,  half  concealed,  half  disclosed  by  Heaven's  veils. 
The  islands  of  the  coast  are  of  volcanic  origin,  and  at  a  little 
distance  are  exquisitely  beautiful,  clothed  with  verdure 
from  the  water's  edge  all  up  their  graceful  slopes.  Some  of 
them  are  tall  mountains  rising  from  the  deep  sea,  fathomless 
almost  at  their  very  water  line.  The  principal  cities  of 
Central  America,  like  the  fabled  phoenix,  literally  spring 
from  their  own  ashes  or  those  of  their  predecessors  buried  in 
earth  that  has  quaked  for  their  destruction,  and  now  in  terror 
are  waiting  their  turn  to  come.  Guatemala,  the  largest  and 
most  populous,  has  been  built  three  times,  and  three  times 
swallowed  up.  This  is  situate  high  up  among  the  moun 
tains,  but  even  close  to  the  borders  of  the  sea  I  had  recitals 
from  the  coast-wise  denizens  of  recent  rumbling,  and  from 
their  accounts  the  surface  of  the  earth  would  almost  seem  to 
totter  like  thin  ice  to  the  tread.  Nature  is  wild  and  gloomy 
and  hellish  in  these  regions.  Civilization  falters  before  the 
great  convulsions  and  throes  of  a  world  unformed  and  quick 
ening  into  being,  or  passing  with  an  awTful  crumbling  to 
another  existence.  Man  hesitates.  Wild  beasts  and  horrid 
reptiles,  strange  fowls  of  the  air,  and  still  stranger  fish  hold 
high  carnival  in  the  fastnesses  of  hilltop  and  mountain,  by 
the  river  and  through  the  gloomy  lagoon  all  down  to  the 
sea.  Some  of  the  wonders  of  the  great  deep  were  revealed  to 
me;  and  strange  stories  were  told  of  what  peopled  the  tangled 
forest  glades,  and  found  life  in  the  green  morass.  I  saw 
huge  whales  throw  their  black  and  greasy  bulk  upon  the 
ocean's  surface,  and  blow  their  jets  of  sparkling  brine  in  rain 
bow  colors  high  against  the  morning  sun.  I  saw  the  famous 
devil  fish  that  Victor  Hugo  so  well  describes,  and  heard 
heart-sickening  tales  of  his  capture,  and  how  his  victims, 
the  pearl  divers,  were  enveloped  in  his  jelly,  and  sucked  by 
a  thousand  mouths  to  a  dreadful  death.  I  saw  the  great  sea 
alligators  and  man-eating  sharks  warring  against  each  other. 
I  shot  enormous  pelicans,  one  of  which  would  eat  as  many 
fish  for  his  breakfast  as  would  supply  your  table  for  a  week. 
I  saw  the  fierce  South  American  lion  or  puma,  and  have 


452  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

brought  back  as  spoils  the  skins  of  the  still  more  savage 
jaguar.  I  walked  underneath  the  palm  and  drank  of  the 
bright,  clear,  cold,  sparkling  fluid  that  comes  from  the  nut. 
I  ate  the  tamarind  fresh  from  the  tree,  and  saw  the  coffee 
shrub,  and  the  bales  of  cochineal,  and  indigo  brought  down 
in  the  quaint,  old-fashioned  ox-carts,  so  old-fashioned  that 
you  see  their  counterparts  limned  in  the  old,  old  pictures. 
The  wheels  sawed  out  of  a  solid  block,  the  tongue  attached 
by  raw  leather  thongs  to  the  horns  of  the  oxen,  the  hoops 
covered  with  undressed  hide.  The  drivers  marching  naked 
with  the  Biblical  cloth  about  their  loins.  Much  more  did  I 
see  and  hear  that  others  have  seen  and  heard  before  me,  and 
can  recount  far  better  than  I  am  able,  to  make  up  the  article 
for  the  magazine  or  serial.  Still  there  is.  a  good  deal  in  the 
being  brought  face  to  face  with  that  which  seems  so  strange 
in  description  to  the  inhabitants  of  temperate  climates.  For 
instance,  upon  one  occasion,  I  took  a  small  boat,  and  went 
off  to  a  desolate  island  where  perhaps  before  my  own  no 
human  foot  had  trod.  It  was  one  of  a  group  offering  no 
temptation  to  the  explorer.  Yet  because  it  was  solitary, 
desolate,  where  one  could  be  utterly  alone,  I  rowed  to  it, 
and  leaving  my  boat  in  charge  of  its  crew  at  the  beach, 
clambered  up  among  the  rocks  and  through  the  brakes, 
where  I  thought  I  might  start  a  deer,  and  indeed,  I  am 
sure,  I  heard  one  bound  with  his  quick  tearing  leaps  just 
before  me,  but  the  cover  was  too  thick  for  my  vision.  A 
wood  pigeon  rose  and  I  shot  it.  Hardly  had  the  report  of 
my  gun  echoed  away  when  I  was  startled  by  the  most  dis 
cordant  cries,  and  directly  two  large  parrots  winged  their 
flight  within  easy  range  just  over  my  head.  I  would  not 
fire  at  them  ;  they  were  the  same  large,  green  beautifully 
plumaged  birds  that  you  see  at  the  Italian  shops,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  little  short  of  murder  to  take  their  lives, 
though  I  am  told  the  young  ones  make  a  very  good  pie. 
Then  I  sailed  under  the  stars  that  glittered  in  reflection 
from  the  dimpling  waves,  through  the  most  lovely  tropical 
nights  that  poet's  pen  ever  pictured,  the  palms  clustering  on 
the  shore.  I  saw  the  Southern  Cross,  beaming  in  all  its 
glory,  rising  in  the  horizon,  as  the  Great  Bear  went  down. 


Letters  453 

I  saw  the  moon  come  up  partially  eclipsed  only  to  emerge  to 
a  more  dazzling  and  effulgent  light.  I  leaned  over  the 
taffrail  as  we  plowed  through  waters  white  as  milk,  showing 
the  same  phenomenon  that  filled  the  followers  of  Columbus 
with  amazement  and  dread  and  that  yet  remains  unexplained 
by  our  philosophers.  I  saw  the  waves  part  before  our  prow 
in  phosphorescent  glow,  to  meet  under  our  keel  like  the 
burning  billows  of  a  fiery  sea.  I  passed  majestic  ships  with 
all  sails  set,  top  royals  and  sky  sails,  flying  jibs  and  stern 
sails,  all  the  canvas  that  could  be  crowded  on  the  best  mer 
chantmen  that  float  from  England's  docks,  whitening  in  the 
sunlight  and  bellying  in  the  favoring  breeze,  the  whole  fair 
fabric  ((  walking  the  water  like  a  thing  of  life," — with  two 
exceptions,  a  noble  horse,  a  fair  woman — the  most  beautiful 
object  to  the  eye  of  man. 

I  have  seen  the  Aztec  Indian  girl,  with  her  almond  eye, 
her  polished  copper  skin,  her  straight  black  hair,  her  round 
and  supple  limbs,  her  well  turned  ankle  and  aristocratic 
hand,  pure  in  lineage  from  the  tribe  whose  fair  daughter 
welcomed  the  first  Spaniards  with  seductive  grace  to  the 
shores  of  the  New  world.  She  has  come  to  me  with  her 
calabash,  her  oranges  and  pines  ;  she  has  offered  her  ham 
mock  woven  from  the  same  fibre,  in  the  same  fashion,  with 
the  same  gay  coloring  that  centuries  ago  tempted  the  hardy 
adventurer  from  Castile  to  repose.  But,  like  the  knife 
grinder,  I  have  no  story  to  tell.  My  life  is  like  a  succes 
sion  of  waking  dreams,  and  my  thoughts  are  dreaming  as 
the  days  that  weave  them.  No  strength,  fading,  rolling  up 
like  a  scroll  of  mouldering  parchment,  I  cannot  write  to  give 
form  to  my  ideas  or  expression  to  the  memories.  Like  the 
sheen  of  the  setting  sun  purpling  with  glory  the  fleecy  mists 
that  take  a  thousand  forms  as  they  drive  athwart  the  molten 
sky,  the  light  of  my  life  is  passing,  scintillating  with  upward 
flash  for  the  brief  instant  ere  it  emerges  to  the  dim  obscure. 


I  am  called  to  a  hurried  conclusion  by  the  unexpected 
arrival  of  the  Hon.  Caleb  Gushing,  whom  I  have  to  meet  at 
a  diplomatic  dinner,  after  which  an  interview  with  the  Presi- 


454  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

dent,  etc.,  all  of  which  the  public  prints  will  fully  advise 
you  of. 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  28,  1868. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

The  papers,  of  course,  have  kept  you  fully  advised  of  the 
all-absorbing  interest  of  the  day,  about  which  it  is  useless 
for  me  to  say  one  word,  save  that  I  rank  myself  on  the  side 
of  the  executive  as  opposed  to  the  grossly  revolutionary 
measures  of  the  radical  and  partisan  methods  of  Congress. 
The  impeachment  process  is  a  mere  pretense  for  the  perpetu 
ation  of  party  power.  The  getting  rid  of  Mr.  Johnson  is  the 
beginning  of  the  formation  of  a  pure  oligarchy  that  will  be 
tyrannous  in  its  rule.  There  is  nothing  in  law  to  warrant 
the  procedure,  in  fact  the  President  is  sustained  in  his  course 
by  the  best  legal  minds  of  the  country.  Should  the  opposi 
tion  succeed,  it  will  be  without  color  of  law,  and  I  should 
apprehend  very  serious  trouble. 

The  weather  here  has  been  stormy  to  a  degree  I  think  I 
have  never  witnessed.  Snow  and  sleet,  a  harsh  March  wind 
prevails  to-day,  and  I  am  not  well.  I  have  accepted,  not 
withstanding,  an  invitation  to  a  state  dinner  at  the  Execu 
tive  Mansion  from  the  President  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  to  meet 
the  Chief  Justice  and  other  members  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
with  other  distinguished  guests. 

WASHINGTON,  March  7,  1868. 
MY  DEAR  WIFE  : 

The  impeachment  process  drags  more  slowly  than  the 
bitter  partisans  had  supposed  was  possible.  From  present 
prospects  it  must  be  many  days  before  the  President  can  be 
brought  to  the  bar,  and  afterwards  a  long  time  must  be  con 
sumed  in  the  trial.  Meanwhile,  the  people  from  all  parts  of 
the  country  will  have  been  heard  from.  He  is  calm,  com 
posed,  and  perfectly  hopeful  the  best  legal  minds  of  the 
country  are  with  him. 


Letters  455 

GAI/T  HOUSE,  LOUISVI^E,  Nov.  22,  1869. 
MY  DEAR  DAUGHTER : 

The  prevailing  storms,  the  accounts  of  which  you  doubt 
less  noticed  in  the  papers,  took  full  effect  upon  our  line  of 
route  thither.  We  had  snow  and  wind  among  the  moun 
tains,  and  on  the  plains  near  Urbana,  Ohio,  a  tornado  fairly 
carried  a  car  from  a  side  switch  to  the  main  track  and  caused 
a  collision  whereby  we  were  detained  twelve  hours.  We 
arrived  here  in  a  storm,  and  with  brief  interval  it  has  stormed 
ever  since.  As  I  write,  the  smoky  atmosphere  is  dull  be 
yond  expression,  and  the  rain  falls  heavily.  I  came  on  as 
the  guest  of  General  Sherman  in  a  special  car,  and  as  the 
same  returned  without  him  I  declined  an  invitation  to  return 
in  the  same,  although  he  proposed  to  place  Mrs.  Belknap, 
the  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  under  my  charge.  He 
went  to  Cincinnati  ;  I  propose  to  go  to  Indianapolis  to-night, 
and  probably  from  thence  to  lyOgansport,  where  I  may  re 
main  a  short  time,  and  from  whence  I  shall  probably  write 
you.  The  meeting  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee  was  a  success  in  most  respects,  and  I  was  gratified  in 
meeting  many  of  my  old  comrades.  The  address  of  General 
Parker,  who  delivered  the  eulogy  upon  General  Rawlins, 
was  a  most  finished  production. 


ST.  PAUI,,  MINNESOTA,  June  14,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER: 

It  would  seem  vain  and  egotistical  even  if  you  could  credit 
the  recountal  of  my  adventures  ;  how,  at  every  turn,  upon 
the  crowded  street,  in  the  railway,  even  at  the  hotel,  in  all 
places  strange  to  me  where  I  go,  I  find  persons  crowding  up 
to  me  for  recognition,  all  eager  to  do  me  honor.  At  Cincin 
nati  I  had  a  perfect  ovation,  and  from  that  place  hither  and 
all  through  my  meanderings  ;  brother  officers,  comrades  in 
arms,  the  relatives  of  those  who  served  and  fell  under  me, 
the  people  who  keep  alive  the  records  of  the  war  and  who 
therein  have  read  my  name,  all  extend  the  hand  of  fellow 
ship,  greeting,  and  hospitality.  What  may  grow  out  of  it 


456  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

all  I  cannot  say  or  even  hope,  perhaps,  as  in  the  past,  nothing 
tangible,  nothing  material.  It  may  be  only  the  lip  service 
of  honor  with  no  substantial  meaning,  but  there  is  a  gratifi 
cation  in  the  sweet  incense  that  nothing  else  can  equal  and 
that  might  turn  the  head  of  a  less  grave  man.  St.  Paul  is  a 
beautiful  and  opulent  city,  with  the  purest  atmosphere  I 
have  ever  breathed,  more  rarified  than  that  of  California. 
Last  night,  returning  to  my  lodgings,  I  suffered  with  cold; 
to-day  the  people  are  going  about  with  their  overcoats  that 
are  comfortable.  The  twilight  lasts  till  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  I  am  charmed  with  the  place.  Of  all  these  things 
and  places  and  people  I  have  laid  up  stores  of  incidents  to 
detail  to  you  on  my  return,  and  now,  my  dear  sister,  with 
the  vague  idea  I  have  conveyed  of  my  locus  in  quo,  of  my 
health  and  spirits,  with  the  assumed  probability  of  my  early 
return,  let  me  make  some  answer  to  your  sweet  letter  of 
June  5th,  that  I  found  with  one  from  Walter  of  even  date 
awaiting  my  arrival  here.  You  tell  me  that  you  are  glad 
that  I  have  been  admitted  to  the  Communion  in  the  Catholic 
Church.  I  will  not  say  that  I  am  surprised  to  know  that 
you  are  glad,  for  I  know  your  sound,  practical  common- 
sense  judgment  in  matters  of  religion,  because  I  know  that 
you  possess  no  bigoted  feeling  of  repulsion  towards  a  faith 
that  under  your  eyes  and  in  your  own  most  intimate  com 
munion  has  made  the  lives  of  those  you  most  love  on  earth 
pure  and  holy.  I  have  taken  a  step,  perhaps  the  most  im 
portant  for  life  or  eternity,  with  full  consciousness  and 
mature  deliberation,  and  with  the  conviction  that  for  me 
there  was  but  one  step  between  the  Catholic  Church  and  in 
fidelity,  that  I  either  moved  forward  or  backward,  that  I 
could  not  long  remain  as  I  was.  I  do  not  desire  to  be  mis 
understood  by  my  family  or  those  friends  who  might  take 
an  interest  in  the  matter.  I  do  not  claim  to  have  received  a 
change  of  heart,  an  experience  of  religion,  or  any  strong 
revulsion  of  feeling  usually  understood  as  conveyed  in  the 
cant  religious  expressions  of  the  day.  I  have  made  profes 
sion  of  the  faith  based  upon  the  creed  taught  me  at  our 
mother's  knee.  I  have  received  the  holiest  Sacrament  of  the 
Church,  that  if  any  is  true,  is  the  one  true  Church.  I  pray 


Letters 


457 


that  God  may  give  me  grace  to  have  perfect  faith.  There 
has  been  no  violent  emotion  of  mind,  I  have  been  as  an 
infant  might  be  lifted  to  a  cradle  of  peace.  My  course  seems 
plain  before  me,  and  though  I  know,  oh,  how  well,  the  force 
of  all  you  say,  that  there  are  ills  in  life,  there  are  times 
when  our  souls  are  tried  and  our  faith  well-nigh  lost,  yet  I 
feel  now  quite  at  ease.  The  Church  is  right,  I  have  enlisted 
under  her  banner,  I  have  only  to  keep  my  place  in  her  ranks 
and  press  forward  in  the  march  of  life.  Between  us,  you  and 
me,  there  can  be  no  difference  ;  we  can  breathe  the  same 
prayer  for  the  influence  of  that  Holy  Mystery  that  no  human 
mind  can  conceive,  to  which  all  things  temporal  are  less 
than  atoms  in  the  sunbeam. 

I  cannot  now  write,  as  I  am  at  the  Headquarters  of  the 
Army,  surrounded  by  officers  and  the  bustle  of  business  ;  at 
some  future  time  I  will  express  myself  more  freely  and  at 
greater  length.  Put  from  your  heart  and  mind  all  appre 
hension,  all  repugnance.  We  have  the  same  God,  the  same 
Saviour,  the  same  Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  pray  for  the  same 
grace. 

To-morrow  I  go  to  Dakota  Territory  to  the  source  of  the 
Red  River  of  the  North.  If  you  look  upon  the  map  you  may 
be  able  to  discover  the  little  lake  whence  the  great  river 
takes  its  rise  and  some  fifty  miles  beyond  Fort  Abercrombie. 

SOMERSET  CLUB,  BOSTON, 

Saturday,  Nov.  24,  1877. 

MY  DEAR  BOY: 

I  am  here  in  Boston  .  .  .  Heretofore  courtesies  have 
been  extended  to  me,  but  never  before  so  bountifully  as  now  ; 
cards  came  to  me  at  my  hotel  and  invitations  without  number 
at  the  club. 


Two  or  three  nights  since,  returning  to  my  caravansary,  I 
found  a  warm  invitation  to  an  anniversary  dinner  of  the 
1 '  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. ' '  Coming  from  a  source  that 
I  must  respect,  I  deemed  it  proper  to  at  once  go  in  person  to 
offer  my  regrets.  It  was  impossible  to  get  off,  I  was  at  once 


458  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

seized,  and  having  been  introduced  to  many  of  an  hundred 
guests,  upon  the  arm  of  the  commander,  was  assigned  to  the 
seat  of  honor.  Facing  me  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  two 
tables  that  formed  the  hollow  square  was  the  Secretary  of 
State  ;  at  his  right  hand  sat  the  Collector  of  the  Port,  one 
Simmons  of  Butler  fame,  next  to  him  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  then  Squires,  and  so  on  and  so  on,  with  soldiers  of 
the  regular  army,  men  of  rank  and  note,  etc.,  etc.  A  splen 
did  spread,  good  food  and  rare  wines,  and  as  the  cloth  was 
removed  an  eloquent  address  from  the  commander  at  my 
left  premising  the  first  regular  toast  of  the  evening,  of  course 
the  ' '  President  of  the  United  States, ' '  and,  to  my  profound 
astonishment,  a  call  upon  me  to  respond.  To  that  moment 
I  had  no  expectation  of  speaking,  except  perhaps  in  a  gen 
eral  way,  and  certainly  no  reason  to  expect  a  call  to  speak 
to  a  regular  toast,  and  to  that  one  which  at  this  time  and 
before  such  an  assemblage  as  I  found  before  me,  certainly 
demanded  some  consideration  and  mature  deliberation.  For 
tunately,  I  had  just  read  Noyes's  speech  in  full  at  the  Paris 
dinner  to  Grant,  and  was  fresh  from  a  discussion  of  Grant 
and  Hayes  with  General  Gordon  that  very  day,  so  that  my 
mind  was  drifting  in  the  right  channel  for  the  occasion.  I 
made  a  good  speech,  a  better  one,  I  think,  than  I  ever  made 
before.  That  is  not  saying  much,  but  I  found  out  long 
before  I  sat  down  that  I  had  my  audience,  and  more  than 
once  I  took  them  completely  off  their  feet.  Avoiding  per 
sonality,  I  made  Grant  the  embodiment  of  a  grand  idea,  and 
made  him  the  realization  of  that  idea,  as  an  exponent  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth  of  the  young  Republic  yet  in  her  swad 
dling  clothes.  I  took  Hayes  by  the  hand  from  the  time  he 
left  the  wilderness  of  the  West  till  he  was  hammered  out  at 
Cambridge  and  fitted  for  the  conflict  of  life. 

The  first  day  of  my  arrival  dined  with  Judge  Woodbury, 
the  next  with  the  "  Grand  Army,"  last  evening  with  the 
ex-Chief-Justice  Bigelow,  declining  two  dinners,  one  an  in 
vitation  from  Mr.  Brooks.  Yesterday  I  lunched  with  the 
present  Chief-Justice  Grey,  a  man  who  stands  six  feet  four 
in  his  stockings.  To-night  I  dine  with  Mr.  Appleton,  who 


Letters 


459 


is  the  brother-in-law  of  Professor  Longfellow,  whose  son  is 
invited  to  meet  me.  To-morrow  I  lunch  with  Mr.  Otis,  the 
grandson  of  Harrison  Grey  Otis,  and  to-morrow  night  I 
dine  with  Mr.  Sydney  Brooks. 


PALMER  HOUSE,  CHICAGO, 

Sunday,  Nov.  16,  1879. 

MY  DEAR  SON  : 

From  the  journals  of  the  day,  for  I  presume  the  Eastern 
papers  will  republish  from  here,  you  must  learn  the  wonder 
ful  events  of  the  past  week  in  this  wonderful  city.  My  ex 
perience  in  popular  assemblages  all  my  life  has  been  large 
and  varied,  particularly  since  the  war.  I  have  seen  the 
best  cities  at  their  best,  but  I  have  seen  nothing  that  com 
pares  with  numbers  and  strength  and  character  combined, 
such  as  have  gathered  here.  Nor  can  I  hope  in  a  letter  to 
convey  to  you  the  impressions  and  ideas  that  from  their 
contemplation  throng  my  mind.  I  have  been  invited  and 
urged  to  go  hence  to  Washington,  and  believe  I  should  be 
made  welcome.  But  I  do  not  desire  to  mingle  in  a  crowd, 
even  of  the  gallant  soldiers  that  will  be  there,  and  it  would 
not  be  fitting  that  I  should  be  made  to  take  a  conspicuous 
place  before  the  survivors  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
Here  it  has  been  different.  Kind  fortune  gave  me  the  honor 
of  being  one  of  the  trusted  in  the  early  struggles  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  ;  my  command  kept  me  at  the  front 
of  its  battles.  I  was  favored  at  the  close  of  its  first  fierce 
fight  with  the  friendship  of  General  Sherman,  warm  and  un 
shaken  to  this  day.  In  its  darkest  hours,  before  the  dawn 
ing  of  the  splendid  sunlight  of  its  crowning  victory  at  Vicks- 
burg,  I  was  admitted  to  the  confidence  and  councils  of 
him  who  to-day  stands  before  the  whole  world  as  its  foremost 
Captain,  the  foremost  Captain  among  the  soldiers  of  the 
world.  Here  in  Chicago  were  enlisted  many  regiments  that 
were  grouped  under  my  command,  and  which  by  the  grace 
of  God  I  led  through  fire  and  flood  and  privation  and  suffer 
ing  to  the  bitter  end  of  a  horrible  war.  The  names  of  their 
mighty  dead  are  high  up  on  the  roll  of  honor.  I  have  found 


460  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

more  than  compensation  for  all  my  own  suffering  and  sacrifice 
in  standing  by  the  side  of  Grant  and  amid  the  vast  host  that 
were  gathered  to  do  him  homage,  to  give  him  welcome,  to 
be  able  to  greet  in  not  a  few  of  the  upturned  faces,  as  their 
procession  passed  in  review,  a  glance  of  glad  recognition 
from  their  heroic  survivors.  I  know  in  this  hour  that  my 
name  is  familiar  at  their  firesides  and  in  the  mouths  of  their 
children.  I  know  that  Chicago  has  given  me  welcome,  and 
that  her  citizens  have  felt  proud  that  I  should  take  standing 
place  near  the  very  pinnacle  of  glory  she  has  erected  for  him 
so  great  in  the  estimation  of  myriads  of  men.  I  care  not  to 
descend  just  now  to  mingle  with  the  throng  that  will  swell 
the  chorus  of  the  dirge  to  Thomas.  Still  I  was  strongly 
tempted  to  accept  Sherman's  invitation  to  accompany  him 
back,  and  though  my  engagements  will  keep  me  here  for  a 
day  or  two  longer,  I  may  go  to  Washington  ' '  as  a  looker  on 
in  Vienna." 

It  is  vain,  my  dear  son,  that  I  strive  to  finish  this  letter, 
constant  interruptions  break  the  thread  of  my  attempted 
narrative,  and  obscure  my  line  of  thought.  I  don't  know 
that  I  shall  be  able  even  to  tell  you  when  we  meet  any  more 
of  my  own  share  in  the  exciting  events  of  the  past  week  ; 
within  the  hour  I  shall  join  the  Commandery  of  the  Loyal 
Legion  here  at  their  invitation  to  a  reception  and  lunch 
tendered  by  them  to  General  Grant.  The  reception  will  be 
held  at  the  Chicago  Club.  General  Sheridan  has  tendered 
me  horses  and  escort  to  look  over  the  city.  "  Sandy," 
General  George  Forsyth,  and  others  of  his  staff  have  been 
very  polite. 

Grant  looks  very  well,  and  has  borne  himself  well  through 
out  all  this  affair.  Sheridan  is  very  sick,  and  seems  to  be 
breaking  up.  This  is  a  wonderful  place.  Business  men  are 
in  high  spirits.  There  are  nine  millions  of  bushels  of  wheat 
in  the  elevators  here  ;  orders  for  manufactured  goods  cannot 
be  filled.  Wednesday  brought  in  seventy-five  thousand 
people. 


Letters  46 1 

HYDE  PARK  ON  THE  HUDSON, 

Sunday,  ,  iSSo. 

MY  DKAR  SON: 

I  had  a  most  charming  interview  with  General  Hancock, 
to  whom  you  will  pay  your  respects  at  some  convenient 
season  not  far  away.  .  .  I  am  the  guest  of  my  friend, 
Governor  Dorsheimer.  I  cannot  describe  to  you  what  a  per 
fectly  lovely  place  his  is.  My  window  commands  one  of 
the  most  striking  views  of  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson  so 
celebrated  in  song  and  story.  All  around  is  superb  prospect 
of  hill  and  valley,  rich  in  leafy  trees  and  smiling  verdure, 
the  river  winding  away  dotted  with  sails.  Mansions  and 
cottages  nestled  here  and  there,  long  and  broad  avenues 
bounded  by  lofty  elms  and  hedge-rows,  giving  in  their  curves 
constant  surprises  as  they  open  to  the  parterre  or  the  lake. 
But  why  essay  anything  to  bring  your  fancy  hither  ;  only 
imagine  a  country  selected  hundreds  of  years  ago  by  opulent 
patroons  for  picturesque  loveliness,  and  inhabited  for  genera 
tions  by  the  wealthy  who  have  in  each  succession  of  family 
exhausted  every  resource  of  taste  and  the  best  efforts  of  the 
landscape  gardener  to  develop  what  nature  has  so  lavishly 
spread. 

NEW  YORK,  Sept.  i,  1880. 

To-morrow  morning  at  nine  o'clock  I  start  for  Colorado 
in  company  with  Governor  Dorsheimer.  This  journey  is 
not  political.  ...  I  may  return  a  week  from  next 
Saturday,  but,  as  usual,  my  movements  will  be  uncertain, 
governed  by  daily  events,  so  you  need  never  fear  for  me. 

You  may  regard  General  Hancock's  election  as  un  fait 
accompli.  I  shall  probably  be  regarded  as  one  who  had  some 
hand  in  it. 

PUEBLO,  COLO.,  Sept.  5,  1880. 

We  arrived  here  this  evening  at  2.30  after  a  not  very 
eventful  but  most  interesting  journey  from  New  York  that 


462  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

we  left  Thursday  morning  at  9  A.M.  .  .  This  part  of  the 
continent  I  have  never  traversed,  and  to  me  the  superb  culti 
vated  plateau  of  Kansas  which  with  its  highly  cultivated 
farms  and  vast  herding  grounds  for  cattle,  and  the  desert 
sage  wilderness  of  Colorado  was  continuous  delight  merg 
ing  into  the  sublime  as  the  Spanish  peak  and  Pike's  Peak 
loomed  upon  the  horizon.  Pueblo  is  an  old,  very  old  Span 
ish  town,  now  Americanized,  with  a  population  of  7500. 
The  aspect  of  the  place  is  simply  horrid,  though  the  air  is 
pure,  and  notwithstanding  the  excessive  heat,  the  place  is 
healthy. 


PUEBLO,  Coixx,  Sept.  6,  1880. 

If  you  look  on  your  map,  you  will  find  Pueblo.  It  is  a 
very  old  Spanish  town,  now  Americanized.  Its  altitude 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  or  "  Torresdale,"  is  4679  feet  ; 
the  air  so  ratified  that  in  going  fast  I  feel  its  effects  upon 
my  lungs,  its  population  about  six  thousand,  the  largest  city 
in  Southern  Colorado  ;  it  lies  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  south  of  Denver,  and  is  reached  by  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway  and  by  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  road.  From  this  point  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and 
Santa  Fe  road  branches  to  the  East  and  the  Carson  City 
Branch  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  to  the  West.  The 
Arkansas  River  runs  through  the  city,  separating  it  from 
South  Pueblo  ;  North  and  South  Pueblo  it  is  called.  This 
afternoon  I  shall  leave  for  Silver  Cliff,  and  from  thence  or 
thereabouts,  take  horse  or  mule  and  penetrate  the  mountain 
regions  far  away  from  civilization.  As  I  write,  the  mountain 
ranges  of  the  Rockies  loom  up  in  the  landscape,  and  above 
them  all  to  the  eastward  Pike's  Peak,  wrapped  in  his  mantle 
of  eternal  snow.  The  weather  here  is  perfectly  charming  at 
this  season  of  the  year.  The  winds  sweep  freely  over  the 
broad  savannahs.  For  hundreds  of  miles  we  passed  through 
the  Great  American  Desert,  with  its  cactus  and  sage  brush 
and  arid  alkaline  soil.  The  people  here  have  been  very 
polite.  Last  evening  a  serenade  of  beautiful  music  was 


Letters 

given  us.  I  delivered  a  speech  in  eulogy  of  your  friend, 
General  Hancock,  and  was  followed  by  Governor  Dorsheimer 
on  the  state  of  the  Union.  ...  I  have  eaten  antelope, 
but  have  not  yet  seen  any  live  ones.  I  have  seen  wild  cats 
and  puma  or  South  American  lion,  in  a  cage,  however,  and 
the  most  beautiful  golden  eagle.  As  yet  game  has  been 
scarce  with  me,  but  this  is  not  the  season. 


The  following  study  of  the  character  of  General  Smith 
was  prepared  by  his  second  son,  Theodore  Dehon  Smith, 
known  in  religion  as  the  Rev.  Father  Maurice,  a  priest  of 
the  congregation  of  the  Passionists,  who  died  in  Buenos 
Ay  res,  South  America,  February  15,  1894.  It  was  intended 
for  publication  as  an  article  in  a  magazine,  but  has  been 
withheld  until  this  time.  It  presents  the  views  of  an  affec 
tionate  son  of  his  father's  character,  and  is  thought  to  have 
an  interest  that  makes  it  worthy  of  publication. 


46? 


GENERAL  THOMAS  KILBY  SMITH. 

"Let  us  now  praise  men  of  renown,  and  our  fathers  in  their  gen 
eration." — Eccles.  xliv.,  i. 

AS  we  grow  farther  and  farther  away  from  the  great  Civil 
War,  its  events  and  the  actors  in  them  become  shadowy 
and  unreal.  It  is  the  heroic  age  of  the  Republic.  The  men 
and  the  times  stand  out  before  the  mental  vision  like  medie 
val  pictures.  In  vain  are  written  eloquent  narratives  and 
authentic  memoirs  by  those  who  themselves  were  a  part  of 
the  scenes  they  describe  ;  in  vain  are  books  and  papers  and 
pamphlets  sent  out  from  the  press,  the  sons  of  the  people  are 
dull  of  hearing,  the  heart  of  the  nation  has  ceased  to  beat 
responsive  to  the  once  familiar  call  of  the  bugle  and  roll  of 
the  drum.  Occasionally  that  brilliant  past  that  made  the 
present  possible  is  brought  once  more  before  us  with  some 
thing  of  the  old-time  force  ;  some  battle-flag,  torn  and  tat 
tered  by  the  musket-ball,  with  the  bloodstains  of  its  braves 
fading  into  the  colors  his  dying  eye  lit  up  to  see,  is  removed 
from  its  dust-covered  bin, — the  mighty  chieftain  of  so  many 
armies  dies  amid  the  pine  trees  falling  like  some  lofty  cedar 
with  a  crash  that  resounds  through  the  forest, — but  in  a 
moment  the  apathy  returns  as  the  stillness  resumes  its  usual 
sway.  Grant  has  gone  into  song  and  story.  He  is  already 
idealized.  He  and  his  generals  are  almost  as  far  back  to  us 
as  Charlemagne  and  his  paladins,  as  Napoleon  and  his 
marshals,  as  Washington  and  the  generals  of  his  earlier 
days.  Is  this  the  fate  of  men  and  nations  ?  Is  this  the  re 
ward  that  awaits  all  who  give  themselves  to  the  service  of 
mankind  ?  Is  this  the  vanity  of  human  things,  that  the 
Wise  Man  speaks  of?  Ah,  no  ;  not  so.  To  the  Christian 

467 


40  8  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

eye  to  the  eye  of  faith,  the  lives  of  persons  and  of  peoples  are 
indestructible  portions  of  an  eternal  plan,  by  which  they  will 
be  judged,  and  according  to  which  with  unerring  justice  and 
unfailing  truth,  every  man  will  be  rewarded  according  to  his 
works.  The  world  may  forget  the  virtues  of  its  heroes,  but 
God  does  not  forget  them.  And  no  one  who  has  done  his 
part  to  illustrate  that  dear  humanity  so  wonderfully  created, 
so  still  more  wonderfully  redeemed,  shall  remain  unrecom- 
pensecl.  But  the  fame,  and  the  honor,  and  the  glory,  "  the 
report  that  exalts  the  character,  the  renown  that  every  true 
soldier  courts,  and  has  a  right  to  court ' '  will  be  given  in 
good  measure,  and  pressed  down  and  shaken  together,  run 
ning  over,  to  all.  To  the  statesman  who  gave  his  life  that 
good  government  might  not  perish  from  the  earth,  to  the 
general  officer  who  in  comparison  with  the  love  of  country 
held  life  cheap,  to  the  private  soldier  whose  humble  tomb 
tells  this  tale,  "  he  died  nobly  contending  for  the  right." 
There  are  besides  the  saints  spiritual,  saints  political.  For, 
indeed,  the  attributes  of  God  are  imaged  in  the  economy  of 
the  State  as  in  that  of  the  Church.  Dr.  Brownson  has  said, 
that  they  are  no  less  martyrs  of  truth  who  die  on  the  battle 
field  in  defence  of  true  government,  than  they  who  die  in 
witnessing  the  faith.  But  though  we  may  console  ourselves 
with  such  considerations  for  the  inevitable  transition  that 
will  cause  our  own  selves  to  be  forgotten,  it  is  none  the  less 
our  duty  to  avoid  the  truthlessness  of  the  unthinking  major 
ity  of  men,  and  to  commemorate  with  due  reverence  and 
respect  the  benefits  we  confess  to  have  received  from  our 
fathers  in  their  generation,  the  men  of  renown  who  one  by 
one  are  falling  into  their  graves. 

In  the  number  of  these  we  would  fain  place  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  General  Thomas  Kilby  Smith,  whose  death  is 
chronicled  under  date  of  the  i4th  of  last  December,  was  as 
firm  a  patriot  and  as  upright  a  man  as  any  of  those  who  fol 
lowed  the  flag.  Among  the  very  first  to  answer  the  appeal 
to  arms,  he  recruited  a  regiment  and  rose  successively  to  the 
command  of  a  brigade,  a  division,  and  a  militai-y  depart 
ment.  Whilst  acting  as  Chief  of  Staff  to  General  Grant,  he 
enjoyed  the  close  confidence  of  that  commander  ;  and  the 


A  Study  of  Character.  469 

veteran,  Sherman,  has  testified  to  the  esteem  in  which  he 
held  him.  lyike  Scammon  and  Rosecrans — and  we  wish  we 
could  say  like  Sherman,-— General  Smith  was  a  convert  to 
Catholicism.  And,  like  them,  he  had  a  son  who  became  a 
priest,  whose  consolation  it  has  been  to  repeat  the  dear  and 
honored  name  of  his  father  at  the  altar,  and  to  offer  the 
prayer  of  Holy  Church  at  his  grave,  ' '  that  he  who  on  earth 
had  been  united  in  faith  to  the  congregation  of  believers,  in 
Heaven  may  be  associated  with  the  angelic  chorus. ' ' 

Doubtless,  the  mind  of  a  man  thoroughly  identified  in 
heart  and  hope  and  sympathy  with  what  are  termed  secular 
affairs,  did  not  always  bend  promptly  to  the  teachings  of  re 
ligion.  Doubtless,  a  lifetime  of  association  with  non-Catho 
lics,  and  in  the  exercise  of  that  private  judgment  upon  all 
matters  under  the  sun,  which  they  count  as  their  choicest 
prerogative,  and  which  he  was  well  fitted  to  enjoy  (if  there 
can  be  any  transient  joy  in  the  pursuit  of  intellectual  chi 
meras),  may  have  disposed  him  to  moments  of  doubt  and  dis 
trust.  But  the  knowledge  and  the  wisdom  which  must  come 
in  the  train  of  so  wide  an  experience  of  so  cultivated  a  soul, 
convinced  him  of  the  necessity  of  revelation  ;  and  the  ques 
tion  of  authority  that  followed  was  easily  solved.  To  those 
who  have  heard  him  converse,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say, 
how  nature  had  gifted  him  with  some  of  the  choicest  quali 
ties  that  can  be  bestowed  upon  body  or  soul.  He  had  the 
most  beautiful,  delightful,  kindling  enthusiasm  upon  every 
great  subject  of  debate.  He  had  what  Newman  says  of 
Hurrell  Fronde,  that  sure  hold  upon  certain  prime  and 
moving  principles  which  made  him  utterly  careless  of  conse 
quences.  The  intimate  society  and  habitual  intercourse  with 
the  best  minds  of  the  day  gave  an  additional  impetus  to  the 
natural  force  and  dignity  of  his  character.  The  late  Rev. 
Dr.  White,  Pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  at  Washington,  the  late 
Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Purcell  of  Cincinnati,  the  Very  Rev. 
Vicar  General  Preston  of  New  York,  were  clergymen  whom 
he  knew  and  esteemed.  By  the  second  of  them,  in  1872,  he 
was  received  into  the  Communion  of  the  Church.  If  then, 
after  thirty  or  forty  years  of  the  widest  and  freest  specula 
tion,  he  found  it  difficult  to  think  as  we  all  tried  to  teach 


Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

him  to  think,  who  will  be  surprised  ?  '  You  cannot  teach 
me,"  he  wrote  to  his  son,  naturally  anxious  at  witnessing 
some  of  his  mental  vagaries,  "  I  studied  Brownson  before 
you  were  born."  "  I  dare  say  you  did,"  humbly  replied 
the  young  man,  who  was  most  often  worsted  in  such  en 
counters.  "  But,"  added  the  elder,  with  instant  recognition 
of  the  filial  deference  paid,  "  probably  not  with  as  much 
profit  to  myself."  Nevertheless,  however  his  friends  may 
regret  the  free  vein  he  was  accustomed  to  give  to  his  mind, 
they  have  no  reason  to  blush  for  his  conduct.  In  the  uni 
versal  license  of  camp  and  court,  he  remained  unsullied.  A 
proverb  amongst  his  companions  for  a  gentleness  and  truth 
worthy  of  knighthood,  as  for  valor  that  was  dubbed  chival 
rous.  It  was  characteristic  of  him  to  take  his  sons,  even  of 
tender  years,  to  be  with  him  at  all  times,  at  the  mess  table 
during  active  service,  to  his  various  resorts  of  pleasure  or 
occupation  during  the  long  period  of  his  retirement.  "  I 
never  say  anything  I  am  ashamed  for  my  children  to  hear  ' ' 
was  his  explanation  on  this  point.  There  is  no  one  but  can 
profit  by  the  significance  of  the  remark.  Such  a  character 
as  this  will  repay  study.  What  was  it  that  brought  so  lofty 
a  spirit  in  subjection  to  Catholic  faith  ?  The  world  had  a 
mighty  attraction  for  him.  But  it  never  filled  his  heart  or 
kept  him  from  experiencing  those  large  desires  that  make 
every  finite  pleasure  a  disappointment  and  a  pain.  He 
would  have  what  the  present  condition  of  things  has  to  offer 
in  the  way  of  joy  and  consolation,  because  he  thought  that 
the  effort  required  to  obtain  it  was  a  manly  and  becoming 
exertion  of  strength.  It  would  be  folly,  also,  to  pretend  that 
the  high  aims  and  ideals  he  cherished  were  so  absolutely 
single  to  truth  and  justice  as  to  be  without  some  trace  of 
self-interest.  But  that  he  lived  to  realize  the  vanity  of 
earthly  power  and  of  passing  delight  there  is  no  room  to 
doubt.  Then,  too,  without  perhaps  being  conscious  of  it, 
he  was  carried  along  by  that  reactionary  spirit  in  the  Ameri 
can  Protestant  Church  against  the  stern  traditions  of  the 
Puritan  Fathers,  which  has  been  so  often  and  so  ably  de 
scribed  in  the  pages  of  this  Review.  He  hated  Calvinism. 
But  it  was  nearly  all  that  he  knew  for  many  years  of  the 


A  Study  of  Character.  47 1 

Christian  religion.  For  lie  was  born  of  Protestant  parents 
in  Boston,  nearly  seventy  years  ago.  It  is  this  which  will 
explain  his  apparent  indocility  to  Catholic  inspiration  upon 
a  certain  occasion.  One  of  his  sons  already  referred  to,  re 
ceived  a  religious  vocation.  Enamored  of  the  preaching  of 
the  famous  Paulist,  James  Kent  Stone,  he  followed  that 
eminent  divine  into  the  stricter  observance  of  the  Passionists. 
This  was  a  sensible  grief  to  the  father,  who  opposed  the 
movement  as  long  and  as  well  as  he  fairly  could,  using  every 
lawful  and  decorous  means  of  hindrance  that  were  in  his 
power.  He  disliked  the  doctrine  of  human  depravity,  and 
he  had  a  right  to  dislike  it,  because  it  had  been  taught  him 
improperly.  He  did  not  understand  that  of  Christian  self- 
denial,  of  which  the  religious  life  is  a  consequence,  because 
for  so  long  it  had  never  been  taught  to  him  at  all. 

"  You  wish,"  he  wrote,  "  to  darken  this  world  so  good, 
so  beautiful,  to  deprive  it  of  all  its  sheen,  its  glitter,  and  its 
gloss.  .  .  .  You  despise  those  things  that  precede,  ac 
company,  and  follow  every  man  from  his  birth."  Thus  for 
long  he  struggled  against  the  sacrifice  that  God  demanded 
of  him.  But  in  his  better  moments,  and  ultimately,  he 
lowered  his  strong  heart  to  the  inevitable,  and  kissed  the 
Divine  Hand  that  chastened  him.  Few  can  read  without 
emotion  such  words  as  these  that  follow  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SON  : 

"  It  is  a  good  while  since  we  had  any  commune,  nearly  a 
year  since  we  met,  and  then  I  thought  we  should  never 
again  meet  in  this  world.  No  day  passes  that  you  are  not  in 
my  mind.  I  never  close  my  eyes  to  sleep  that  I  do  not  make 
my  prayer  for  you.  My  dear,  dear  boy.  It  is  all  so  strange 
to  me.  My  cross  is  heavier  than  I  can  bear.  At  times  I 
falter,  and  my  heart  is  broken.  Never  let  one  doubt  of  my 
love  for  you  cross  your  mind,  never  for  one  moment  suppose 
that  I  am  now  or  ever  have  been  hurt  or  angry  with  you,  or 
that  I  have  suffered  from  disappointment  at  the  course  you 
have  chosen  to  pursue.  If  you  are  happy  in  this  world,  my 
prayers  are  answered  ;  if  in  your  vocation  you  can  confer 
happiness  on  others,  I  am  more  than  content.  But  little  is 


472  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

left  to  me.  I  am  almost  ready  to  lay  my  burden  down.  I 
have  tried  life  in  all  its  phases, — now  for  that  undiscovered 
country  from  whose  bourne  no  traveller  returns.  . 
God  has  been  abundant  in  blessing  me,  and  if  He  has  clothed 
me  with  affliction  as  with  a  garment,  it  too,  doubtless,  has 
been  a  blessing  in  disguise.  .  .  .  On  .  .  .  now  all 
our  hopes  rest.  He  is  our  stay  for  troubles  that  are  upon  us 
as  a  sea,  and  for  others  that  we  wot  not  of.  Pray  for  his 
physical  health.  In  mind  he  is  mighty,  with  a  strong  heart 
and  high  courage.  Never  doubt,  never  forget  me,  but  know 
that  I  am  always  with  faith  and  dearest  love, 

* '  Your  affectionate  father. ' ' 

Such  words  as  these  do  not  fall  from  the  lips  of  sceptics. 
And  when  we  know  that  he  had  complied  with  the  precepts 
of  Holy  Church  in  regard  to  the  reception  of  the  Sacraments 
previous  to  his  death,  and  that  in  that  fatal  moment  he  was 
conscious,  and  that,  together  with  his  family,  he  had  at  his 
bedside  the  ever  ready,  ever  zealous,  ever  generous  Jesuit, 
who  can  doubt  that  the  grace  of  God  which  had  followed  him 
all  his  life,  descended  upon  him  then,  to  remain  with  him 
forever  ?  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  for  after  a  long 
time  thou  shalt  find  it  again.  That  dear  friend,  that 
honored  father  was  not  allowed  to  die  alone.  The  brave 
and  gallant  soldier,  whose  very  enemies  loved  him  and  had 
reason  to  love  him,  was  surrounded  by  the  prayers  of  those 
whom  he  had  loved.  In  all  parts  of  the  Union  he  fought  to 
preserve,  there  were  those  who  remembered  his  soul  before 
God.  The  citizens  of  Mississippi,  whose  property  he  pre 
served  from  the  heedless  soldiery  ;  the  citizens  of  Massachu 
setts,  among  whom  he  was  born';  dwellers  in  Philadelphia, 
the  city  of  his  adoption  ;  New  York,  the  city  of  his  love,  and 
far  off  by  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  where  sleep  the  nameless 
dead — no,  not  nameless — the  beloved  54th.  Kver  reticent, 
ever  modest,  ever  self-controlled,  the  half  of  his  benefactions 
will  never  be  knowrn.  He  was  strong  to  protect  the  weak. 
Whether  in  behalf  of  a  downtrodden  race,  as  when  he  stood 
by  the  side  of  the  afterwards  great  Chief-Justice  Chase,  to 
receive  the  obloquy  of  a  pro- slavery  mob,  or  when  from  his 


A  Study  of  Character.  47^ 

headquarters  at  Mobile'he  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
in  behalf  of  the  efficient  negro  soldiers,— or  whether  it  were 
in  defence  of  a  proscribed  religion,  as  when  he  married  in 
the  heat  of  the  Know-Nothing  rage,  a  Catholic  wife,  his  arm 
was  always  raised  to  shield  the  unprotected  from  violence 
and  to  help  the  losing  side.  When  the  South  was  swept  by 
the  tide  of  invasion,  it  was  to  such  as  he  that  she  looked  not 
in  vain  for  consideration  for  the  vanquished.  "  War  has  its 
laws, ' '  he  told  his  soldiers,  ' '  as  well  as  peace.  vSave  by  mili 
tary  rule,  the  rights  of  person  and  property  are  sacred- 
sacred  here  as  near  your  peaceful  homes  in  the  Far  West. 
Remember,  it  is  not  women  and  children  nor  States  upon 
whom  the  Government  is  making  war.  ...  It  is  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  Government  who  have  perilled  their  lives  and 
pledged  their  fortunes  and  honor  for  the  maintenance  of  law 
and  order,  to  set  an  example  to  those  who  have  sought  to 
overturn  all  and  bring  anarchy  and  confusion  upon  the 
land.  To  teach  them  that  in  the  proud  consciousness  of 
power  and  victory  we  can  exercise  a  wise  and  just  forbear 
ance."  By  such  regulations  as  these  the  acrimony  of  the 
conflict  was  softened,  the  fury  of  war  abated.  To  use  his 
own  exquisite,  high-flown  diction,  it  was  "to  march  with 
the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the  olive  branch  in  the  other. ' ' 
Sectional  animosity  gave  place  to  human  kindness.  And 
when  such  dispositions  prevail,  there  is  no  circumstance  of 
life  more  favorable  to  the  display  of  the  natural  virtues  dear 
to  God  and  man  than  the  theatre  of  mortal  combat.  Charity 
descends  upon  the  battlefield  to  cover  its  ghastly  horrors 
with  the  mantle  of  holy  love.  The  virtues  of  nature  are  in 
deed  in  a  most  true  sense  holy.  They  never  go  unrewarded. 
They  sometimes  meet  with  a  higher  than  natural  recompense. 
A  great  soldier,  whose  feats  of  arms  are  the  applause  of  the 
world,  once  gave  his  canteen  to  an  exhausted  foe,  made 
prisoner  by  his  troops.  Years  after,  his  dreary  exile  was 
consoled  by  grateful  testimonials  from  the  relatives  of  the 
man  whose  life  had  thus  been  saved.  But  of  this  same  one 
it  is  recorded,  in  language  of  incomparable  eloquence  :  ' '  The 
hand  that  was  wont  to  countersign  victory  was  extended  to 
a  Sister  of  Charity."  Of  this  last  object  of  condescension, 


474  Thomas  Kilby  Smith 

the  friends  and  relatives  had  neither  silver  nor  gold,  but 
may  we  not  suppose,  that  what  they  had  they  gave  ?  In 
the  silence  and  the  solitude  that  broods  over  the  ocean's  vast 
expanse  there  came  to  the  mind  so  long  engaged  in  the 
world's  affairs  the  thought  of  the  eternal  God.  Was  this 
the  gift  of  an  excellent  nature,  or  the  result  of  abounding 
grace  ?  We  may  be  pardoned  if  we  think  it  was  grace 
given  in  answer  to  prayer.  Prayer  offered  in  grateful  ac 
knowledgment  of  an  act  ol  clemency  to  the  friends  of 
religious  truth. 

Our  modest  hero  would  disclaim  all  share  in  this  compari 
son,  except  with  regard  to  this  last.  In  the  times  when  al 
most  every  Union  general  was  a  ruler  and  a  prince,  his 
brief  authority  extended  even  to  the  domains  of  Holy 
Church.  With  all  his  respect  for  civil  rights,  it  may  be 
doubted  if  his  acquaintance  was  very  accurate  with  the 
law  Ecclesiastical.  He  had  shown  but  slight  consideration 
for  the  scruples  of  certain  dignitaries  upon  other  occasions. 
But  when,  in  1864,  in  distant  Louisiana,  he  found  himself 
the  de  facto  head  of  the  temporalities  belonging  to  a  commun 
ity  of  nuns,  inasmuch  as  he  was  monarch  of  river  and  shore, 
his  heart  came  to  the  help  of  his  mind  and  he  did  for  these 
helpless  and  destitute  victims  of  conquest  all  that  its  gener 
ous  promptings  suggested.  They  had  no  reason  to  complain 
of  the  rigor  of  martial  law.  Like  that  of  the  ancient  king, 
it  was  not  made  for  such  as  they.  The  edge  of  the  sword 
was  not  turned  against  them,  but  against  all  who  should 
venture  to  molest  them.  The  convent1  was  sacred  from 
every  invasion  of  its  privacy  by  a  detachment  of  his  men, 
and  from  the  camp  of  this  considerate  aggressor  were  fur 
nished  the  sorely  needed  supplies  and  provisions  of  all  kinds. 
In  the  impoverishment  of  that  stricken  territory,  the  Re 
ligious  found  better  fare  in  this  instance  amongst  their  foes 
than  their  own  friends  could  have  offered  them.  "  Deign  to 
render,  O  Lord,  unto  all  those  who  have  done  good  to  us  for 
Thy  Name's  sake,  life  eternal."  These  courtesies  of  war 
probably  cost  the  Federal  officer  little.  They  profited  him 
much.  Let  it  be  recorded  to  the  honor  of  religion,  that 
1  The  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  near  Alexandria,  La. 


A  Study  of  Character.  475 

these  faithful  disciples  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  itself 
knew  no  North  and  no  South,  never  forgot  to  return  a  hun 
dredfold  the  little  they  had  received.  In  their  beautiful 
convent  homes  all  over  a  re-united  and  peaceful  land,  their 
whilom  benefactor,  he  and  his,  the  living  and  the  dead',  have 
found  rest  and  peace,  and  one  of  them  a  quiet  grave.  And 
not  only  so,  for  we  are  sure  that  to  them  in  great  part  he 
was  indebted  for  the  grace  of  conversion,  and  finally  for  the 
grace  of  a  happy  death. 

The  mortal  remains  of  the  once  proud  soldier  lay  in  state 
in  a  room  in  his  own  house.  There,  together  with  the 
insignia  of  his  earthly  rank  and  short-lived  glory,  was 
placed  the  symbol  of  peace  eternal.  And  as  the  image 
of  the  Crucified  looked  down  on  the  laurel  and  steel, 
and  the  son  sang  the  funeral  dirge  over  all  that  was  left 
of  the  father,  the  countenance  of  the  dead  man  reposed 
in  ineffable  calm.  Surely,  if  ever  the  infinite  attributes 
of  a  merciful  God  shone  forth  from  the  human  face  divine, 
they  were  to  be  seen  here.  Those  features  which  were 
once  so  mobile, — which  erstwhile  were  as  stern  as  fate, 
or,  again,  as  sweet  as  summer,  rested  now  in  aspect  of  con 
templation.  The  brows,  slightly  elevated,  communicated  to 
the  whole  an  expression  of  wisdom  which  the  closed  eyes 
could  not  contradict.  It  was  only  a  deserted  tenement,  a 
shell,  a  mould  of  clay.  But  it  had  been  the  habitation  of  an 
immortal  soul.  We  have  no  right  to  judge.  We  dare  not 
say.  The  end  no  man  can  see.  But  may  we  not  hope  that 
the  indomitable  spirit  which  had  so  often  looked  forth  from 
beneath  those  lids  with  determination  to  find  in  the  world  its 
counterpart  of  valor  and  of  love,  in  the  moment  of  its  depart 
ure  saw  the  vanity  of  that  desire  and  mused  upon  its  own 
mistake, — gazed  into  the  immediate  future,  saw  the  glory  of 
the  coming  of  the  world  that  was  to  be,  and  left  stamped 
upon  that  which  had  been  for  so  long  the  mirror  of  its 
motions  the  virtues  of  its  final  satisfaction  and  content. 

General  Smith  is  not  buried  at  Spring  Grove  with  his  old 
regiment,  nor  at  Greenwood  near  the  busy  mart  whose 
active  life  he  loved  to  share,  nor  at  Laurel  Hill,  where  rest 
many  of  the  illustrious  of  his  compeers.  In  the  humble  con- 


Thomas  Kilby  Smith 


viction  of  his  family  and  of  many  of  his  friends,  he  rests 
where  the  mysterious  presence  of  God  upon  earth  is  more 
palpably  evident  than  in  any  of  these.  They  have  laid  the 
body  of  the  soldier  near  the  Body  of  the  Christian's  I^ord. 
He,  whose  arm  in  life  was  raised  in  defence  of  what  he  be 
lieved  to  be  true  authority,  in  death  has  taken  up  his  station 
to  bear  witness  to  the  same  good  cause.  Obedient  to  every 
detail  of  Catholic  ritual,  he  lies  in  the  Catholic  bury  ing- 
ground  of  his  own  parish. 

"  But,"  it  was  said,  "  even  if  he  had  died  on  the  field  of 
battle,  his  followers  would  have  distinguished  his  remains 
from  those  of  others.  They  would  have  wrapped  his  cloak 
about  him,  and  put  him  in  a  place  apart."  And  so  it  is  now. 
Upon  a  gentle  eminence,  quite  near  the  sanctuary,  his  grave 
overlooks  those  of  all  the  rest  who  are  buried  there.  It  is 
the  last  bivouac.  The  warrior  again  mounts  guard.  He 
defends  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  He  has  stationed  his  outposts 
and  picketed  his  men.  And  here  he  has  pitched  his  tent. 
It  will  not  any  more  be  unfolded  until  the  trumpet  shall 
sound  and  the  dead  shall  arise.  When,  upon  the  morning 
of  that  tremendous  day,  he  goes  to  respond  to  the  dread 
summons  to  render  his  account,  God  grant  that  the  good 
works  he  has  done  may  follow  him,  and  that  thus  may  come 
to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written  ' '  Death  is  swallowed  up  in 
victory. ' ' 

THE    END 


INDEX 


Adams,  Charles  Francis,  4 

Adams,  John,  3,  4 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  3,  4 

Adriatic,  steamer,  98 

Albatross,  gunboat,  317,  318 

Albert,  Col.,  102 

Alexandria,   87,  89,   93,    95,    107, 

no,  in,  114,  116,  126,  129-131, 

133-141,  317,  359,  361,  365 
Alice  Vivian,  steamer,  102,  103, 

1 06 

Allan  Co.,  O.,  78 
Ammon's  Bridge,  23,  228,  229 
America,  steamer,  303 
Andrew,  Capt.,  101 
Appier,  J.J.,  Col.,  12 
Appomattox,  146 
Arizona,  gunboat,  316,  321 
Arkadelphia,  138 
Arkansas  Post,  30-32,  59,  62,  63, 

66,  78,   159,  258,  261,  266,  273, 

275,  284,  286,  315,  333 
Arkansas  River,  32,  108,  258,  262 
Armenia,  steamer,  304 
Armory,  3,  9,  12 
Army   of  the   Cumberland,    152, 

459 

Army  of  the  James,  365 
Army  of  the  Ohio,  16,  18 
Army  of  the  Mississippi,  254,  268, 

269  ;  Confederate,  14 
Army   of  the  Potomac,   77,   240, 

366,  379 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  12,   13, 

17,  81,  89,  119,    126,    137,  143, 

146,  152,  160,  236,  336,  459 
Artesa,  84 
Asbury,  N.  J.,  8 
Aspinwall,  415 


Astor,  John  Jacob,  284 
Atchafalaya,  90  ;  river,   112,   138, 

357,  359 

Atlanta,  79,  94,  124,  131,  142 
Auburn,  46 
Auglaize  Co.,  O.,  78 
Autocrat,  steamer,  90 
Avoyelles,  91,  357 


B 


Bache,  Commander,  107 

Bailey,  Admiral,  411 

Bailey,  Joseph,  Lieut. -Col.,  m, 
137 

Baker's  Creek,  157 

Ball,  Flaman,  6 

Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  Gen.,  26, 
29,  7i,  72,  74,  76,  77,  85-88,  93- 
96,  101,  102,  104,  108,  110-117, 

JI9,  120,   124-127,    130,  131,   133, 

134,  139,  141,  159,  J97,  214,  218, 
311,  315,  316,  319,  320,  328,  330- 

332,  334,  336,  355,  359,  3^1 
Barbin's  Landing,  141 
Barrett,  S.  B.,  Capt.,  46-48,  54 
Barton,  J.  A.,  Corp.,  45 
Baton  Rouge,  92,  387 
Baxter  Bayou,  33 
Bayou  Boeuf,  121 
Bayou  Cotile,  129 
Bayou  de  Glaize,  91 
Bayou  L'Eglise,  357 
Bayou  Pierre,  97,  117 
Bayou  Rapids,  93 
Bayou  Sara,  141 

Beale,  William,  Gen.,  C.S.A.,  320 
Bear  Creek,  73 
Beattie,  Major,  312 
Beauregard,  Gen.,  17,  18 
Behr,  Frederick,  Capt.,  12 


477 


Index 


Ben  Franklin,  steamer,  184 

Bcnton,  gunboat,  92,  359 

Bentonville,  Pa.,  79 

Berwick  Bay,  88 

Bicnville,  U.  S.  S.,  385 

Big  Black  River,  72,  78,  138,  159 

Bigelow,  Judge,  410,  458 

Black  Bayou,  35 

Black  Hawk,  steamer,  39,  69,  90, 

92,  99,  102,  103,  117,  3l6>  357> 

358 
Black  River,  40,  83,  138,  141,  160, 

333,  345,  346,  355,  377 
Blair,  Francis  P.,  Jr.,  Gen.,  37, 

40,  43-47,  50-52,  283,  289-291, 

308 

Blair's  Division,  39,  40 
Blair's  Landing,  113,  117 
Blair's  Plantation,  106 
Blake,  Congressman,  170 
Blakely,  386 

Blanden,  Leander,  Lieut. -Col.,  81 
Bolton,  46 
Boston,  Mass.,   1-3,  56,   150,  158, 

457 

Boyce's  Plantation,  121 
Boyington,  A.  J.,  Lieut.,  99 
Boylston,  Thomas,  4 
Bragg,  Braxton,  Gen.,  210,   225, 

234,  240,  244 
Brashear  City,  316 
Breckenridge,  John  C.,  Gen.,  218, 

238 

Brevoort,  family,  284 
Bridgeport,  40 
Bridge,  S.  J.,  Gen.,  2 
Brooks,  Sydney,  459 
Brown  Co.,  O.,  331 
Brown,  David  Paul,  151 
Brownson,  Dr.,  468,  470 
Brownsville,  88 
Bruinsburg,  38 
Brunswick,  I 
Budd,  George  D. ,  4 
Buchanan,  President, 
liucklaud,  R.  P.,  Col.,  12,  20 
Buckstone  Landing,  141 
Buell,  Don  Carlos,  Gen.,  18,  21, 

197,  234,  240,  244 
Bull  Run,  10,  ii 
Burge,  Col.,  320 
Burnett,  Col.,  183 
Burnett  House,  Cincinnati,  167 
Butler  Co.,  O.,  78 
Butler,  Gen.,  365-367 
Butler's  Ditch,  266 
Buite  La  Rose,  La.,  316 


Cairo,  111.,  192,  33°,  332,  387 
Calef,  Hannah,  I 
Calef,  Joseph,  i 
Calhoun,  no 
California,  8 
Camden,  112,  138 
Campbell,     James,     Postmaster- 
General,    9 

Camp  Dennison,  10,  172-184,  377 
Campti,   La.,   99,    100,    104,    109, 

115,  125,   140,   141 

Canby,  Edward  R.  S.,  Gen.,  112, 

116,  122,  123,  145,  147,  339,  395, 
404,  406 

Cane  River,  no,  127,  129,  140 

Canso,  Nova  Scotia,  3 

Canton,  Miss.,  354 

Carle,  Charles,  Surgeon,  90,  140 

Carncross,  Captain,  343 

Carnifex  Ferry,  Va.,  278 

Carolina,  gunboat,  316 

Carroll's  Plantation,  94 

Casco  Bay,  I 

Caspiana,  141 

Cass,  Gen.,  284,  391 

Catholic  Sisters,  278,  421 

Cayuga,  46 

Champion  Hills,  40,  78,  84,  160 

Chandler,  Lieut. -Col.,  53 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  294,  329 

Chase,  Miss  Kate,  171 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  6,    n,  66-68, 

158,  171,  309,  406,  411,  412,  472 
Chateau  d'Eu,  France,  155 
Chattanooga,  79,  120 
Chewalla,  217 
Chicago,  459,  460 
Chick asas  Bluffs,  272,  285,  394 
Chickasaw  Bayou,  29,  32,  33,  39, 

59,  61,  66,  78,  159,  228,  261,  266, 

267,  284,  333,  347 
Chillicothe,  gunboat,  99 
Chisum,  Col.,  120 
Churchill,  Gen.,  20 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  5,   6,  9,   10,   12, 

59,  151,  167,  181,  192,  206,  234, 

240,  244,  250,  331 
City  of  Madison,  steamer,  327 
City  Point,  143,  364,  365 
Clara  Bell,  steamer,  97-99,  102- 

104 

Clark,  \V.  T.,  Gen.,  342 
Clarkesville,  373 
Clifton,  Ohio,  179 
Clifton,  steamer,  316 


Index 


479 


Clifton,  Tenn.,  143,  375-377 
Cloutierville,   no,   116,  121,  127, 

140 

Cockerill,  J.  R.,  13,  14,  392 
Coldwater,  24,  239 
Coleraine  Township,  Ohio,  5 
College  Hill,  Miss.,  24 
Colonel  Cowles,  gunboat,  99 
Colorado,  461,  462 
Columbus,  Tenn.,  228 
Commercial,  Cincinnati,  244,  274 
Committee,  Conduct  of  the  War, 

160,  379 
Committee,  National  Democratic, 

10 

Comte  de  Paris,  155 
Conemaugh  River,  144 
Conness,  Senator,  439 
Constitution  Hill,  4 
Corinth,  13,  14,  18,  21,  22,  59,  61, 

63,   159,  192,  200-202,  209-212, 

214,  225,  228,  229,  244,  245,  275, 

284,  333 
Cotille,  no 
Court  of  Claims,  152 
Coushatta  Point,  100,  106,  113, 120 
Coushatta  Chute,  100,  101,  141 
Crescent  City  Guards,  197,  228 
Cressley,  Geo.  W.,  Maj.,  83 
Cresson,  Pa.,  144 
Crocker,  M.  M.,  Gen.,  82,  83,  342 
Cricket,  Flagship,  107,  129,  362 
Cumberland  Gap,  2,  344  ;   river, 

371-376 

Curtiss,  Gen.,  234 
Curtiss,  F.  S.,  Maj.,  54 
Cushing,  Caleb,  Hon.,  453 
Cuyahoga  Co.,  Ohio,  78 


Dakota,  457 

Dallas,  Georgia,  79 

Dartmouth  College,  148,  410,  412 

Dauphin e  Island,  406 

Davis,  George,  104 

Davis,  Jefferson,  327,  397,  405 

Davis  Plantation,  84 

Davis,  \V.  H.  H.,  Gen.,  162 

Dayton,  Capt.,  243 

Dayton,  L.  M.,  38 

De'Charmes,  Lieut.,  192 

Deer  Creek,  33,  34,  36 

Dehon,  Theodore,  156 

Dehon,  William,  177 

Delaware  College,  285 

Delhi,  La.,  70,  311,  312 


Democratic  Party,  10 

Dennis,  E.  S.,  Gen.,  314,  316,  341 

Dennison,  Gov.,  n,  159,  367 

Department  of  the  Gulf,  134 

De  Quincey,  255 

Des  Arc  Bluff,  32 

Des  Moincs,  steamer,  98 

De  Soto,  La.,  301 

Detroit,  Mich.,  284 

Diadem,  steamer,  98 

Diana,  steamer,  90 

District  of  West  Tennessee,  122 

Dix,  W.,  Mayor,  318 

Donaldson,  141 

Dorchester,  Lieut.,  54 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  2,  236 

Dorsheimer,  Wm.,  Hon.,  155,  156, 

164,  461,  463 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  10 
Drake,  Geo.  B.,  A.A.G.,  101 
Duff,  Col.,  343,  370 
Duncan,  Mrs.,  317 
Durand's,  141 
Dutch  Gap  Canal,  365 
Du  Val  Bluff,  32 
Du  Val,  Gov.,  402 
Dwight,  Gen.,  320 


Eagle,  steamer,  36 

Easley,  Robert,  104 

Eastport,  ironclad,  no,  118,  136 

Eastport,  Miss.,  143,  144,374,376- 

379 

Baton,  Asa,  Rev.,  150 
B.  C.  Aiken's,  141 
Edwards'  Depot,  40 
Edwards'  Ferry,  40 
Edwards'  Station,  46,  47 
Eidridge,  Hamilton  N.,  Col.,  40, 

46,  54 

Elgin's  Ford,  172 
Eliot,  John,  Rev.,  2 
Ellison,  R.  H.,  Maj.,  83 
Emerald,  steamer,  98,  102,  103 
Emory,  Gen.,  94,  95 
Enoch,  John,  Lieut.,  54 
Enterprise,  Miss.,  354 
Erie,  Lake,  275 
Essex,  gunboat,  359 
Ewing,  Gen.,  307,  314 
Ewing,  Hugh,  Gen.,  34,  39~4i,  43. 

44,  50,  52 

Ewing,  Thos.,  Gen.,  156,  163 
Ewing,  W.  L.,  steamer,  98 


480 


Index 


Fairy,  flagship,  375 

Fanars,  Mrs.,  322 

Faneuil,  Peter,  2,  3 

Fannie  McBurnie,  steamer,  184 

Farragut,  Admiral,  87,  316,  319 

Fayette  Co.,  Ohio,  179 

Fifteenth  Army  Corps,  30,  34,  36- 
38,  46,  48,  55,  57,  60,  65,  79-  258, 
264,  266,  268,  271,  274,  278,  279, 
283,  285,  307,  340 

Fisher,  C.  W.,  Col.,  19,  46,  53,  55, 

210,   214,   2l8,   236,  277,  294 

Forbes,  Capt.,  316 

Forrest,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A.,  142 

Forsyth,  George,  Gen.,  460 

Fort  Abercrotnbie,  457 

Fort  Blakely,  145 

FortDe  Russy,   89,  93,  116,   121, 

138,  160,  317,  357,  359 
Fort  Donaldson,  184,  187,  208,  371 
Fort  Gaines,  145,  380-383,  385-387, 

391,  392,  395,  4oi 
Fort  Harrison,  365 
Fort  Henry,  13,  187 
Fort  Hyndman,  32,  258 
Fort  Jackson,  8r 
Fort  McAllister,  79 
Fort  Monroe,  365 
Fort  Pickering,  23,  240 
Fort  Powhatan,  365 
Fort  St.  Philip,  87 
Fourth  Wisconsin  Regiment,  in 
France,  policy  of,  224 
Franklin,  Gen.,  87,  94,  95,    114, 

134 

Franklin,  Tenn.,  142 
French  and  Indian  War,  I 
Friar's  Point,  35 


G 


Galveston,  87,  88,  114,  138 

Galveston  Bay,  138 

Gardner,    Francis,  Gen.,  C.S.A., 

320 

Garrard,  K.,  Gen.,  143,  377,  378 
Gazelle,  dispatch  boat,  103 
George  Gurnage's,  141 
Georgetown,  Ohio,  331 
Georgia,   125,  146 
Germantown,  Tenn.,  228 
Gillespie,  W.  C.  B.,  Lieut.,  90 
Gillett,  Capt.,  54 
Goodman,  H.  Earnest,  Col.,  155, 

156,  162 


Gordon,  Gen.,  458 

Governor  Wells's  Plantation,  121 

Graham,  George,  193 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  45, 
458 

Grand  Bayou,  141 

Grand  Ecore,  89,  96-98,  101,  105, 
106,  108-110,  113-117,  119,  125, 
126,  133,  134,  140,  141 

Grand  Gulf,  38,  46,  78,  214,  317 

Grand  Lakes,  316 

Granger,  Gen.,  385 

Grant,  U.  S.,  Gen.,  13,  14,  16,  24- 
26,  29,  30,  32,  33,  38,  40,  42,  44, 
48,  50,  55,  56,  64,  65,  68,  69-75, 
80,  81,85-87,  94,  124,  149,  152- 
154,  156,  159-161,  196,  262,  269, 
279-282,  303-309,  311,  314-316, 
319,  322,  323,  326,  330-337,  340, 
343,  344,  353,  356,  362,  365,  370- 
372,  385,  386,  409,  4-io,  441,  458, 
460,  467,  468 

Grant's  Pass,  Alabama,  380 

Grappe's  Bluff,  141 
1   Grave  Yard  Road,  47,  48 

Great  Britain,  Policy  of,  241 

Gregg,  David  McM.,  Gen.,  40, 
162 

Green  Co.,  Ohio,  78,  142 

Green,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A.,  94,  102, 
103,  106-109,  113,  117-120 

Green,  W.  D.,  A.  A.  G.,  42,  43,  53 

Grenada,  29 

Gresham,  Walter  Q.,  Gen.,  83 

Grey,  Chief  Justice,  458 

Grier,  Capt..  U.  S.  N.,  92,  359 

Grierson,  B.  H.,  Gen.,  75,  76 

Groce,  John  H.,  Capt.,  43 

Groesbeck,  John  B.,  6,  214 

Grover,  Gen.,  93,  95 

Guatemala,  451 

Gulf,  Dept.  of,  77 

Gunntown,  Miss.,  142 

Gwin,  Ex-U.  S.  Senator,  435 


H 


Haines's  Bluff,  32,  33,  39,  72,  92, 

159,  277,  304 
Hall,  Lyons,  Col.,  83 
Halleck,  H.  W.,  Gen.,  12,  15,  21, 

23,  24,  56,  61,  85,  87,  122,  184, 

192,   211,   214,   220,  240,  308 

Hamburg  road,   19 
|   Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio,  5,  10,  78,  151 
I   Hamilton,  Gen.,  24 


Index 


481 


Hamilton,  steamer,  98 
Hancock,  Gen.,  149,  152,  154,  155, 

367,  461 
Hanover,  148 
Hard  Times,  46 
Hardee,  Gen.,  196 
Harriet  Lane,  steamer,  92,  358 
Hastings,    steamer,    90,    97-100, 

102,  104,  109,  359 
Havana,  148,  316,  381 
Hayes,  President,  458 
Hay  ward,  Col.,  437 
HefFerman,  Maj.,  53 
Helena,  Ark.,  25 
Henderson's  Hill,  93,  116,  129 
Henrie,  Daniel  Drake,  6 
Hernando,  24 
Hicks,  Stephen,  Col.,  9,  12 
Hill's  Plantation,  35 
Hindman,  steamer,  103,  104,  in 
Hoadly,  George,  Hon.,  i 
Holabird,  Col.,  134 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  458 
Holmesburg,  Phila.,  156 
Holly   Springs,    22-24,    2I6,   218, 

222,  225,  228 
Hope,  Dr.,  145 
Horton,  Mr.,  171 
Hough,  J.,  Capt.,   105,    122,   143, 

144,  375,  417 

Hood,  J.  B.,  Gen.,  142,  374,  376 
Houston,  D.  C.,  Maj.,  88,   104 
Houston,  W.  K.,  Capt.,  104,  138 
Hudson  River,  461 
Humphreys,  T.  W.,  Col.,  89,  104, 

121 
Hurlbut,   Stephen  A.,    Gen.,  83, 

84,  236,  3Q5 
H.  Tessier's,  141 
Hyde  Park,  New  York,  461 


Iberville,  steamer,  99,  100,  105 
Illinois,  7,  10,  261  ;  Governor  of, 
24  ;  4oth  infantry,  12  ;  4ist  in 
fantry,  Si,  89,  121  ;  49th  infan 
try,  128 ;  55th  infantry,  12,  17, 
21,  30,  31,  48,  52,  53,  62,  196, 
203,  204,  252,  263  ;  72(1  infantry, 
Si  ;  8ist  infantry,  89,  121  ;  Vol 
unteers,  95th  infantry,  99,  121  ; 
95th  infantry,  81,  89,  107  ;  Vol 
unteers,  ii7th  infantry,  128; 
I27th  infantry,  31,  46,  48-50,  53, 
54,  252,  261,  263 


Indiana,   Governor  of,  24  ;   3d  in 
fantry,    128;  83d   infantry,    31, 
34,  46,  48-50,  53,  60,  252,  261,  263 
Indianola,  gunboat,  87,  358 
Iowa,    6th   infantry,    12 ;    3d    in 
fantry,  89,  90,  121 


J 


Jackson,  James,  Hon.,  245 
Jackson,  Miss.,  39,  79,  249,327; 

port,  40 ;  railroad,  47 
James  River,  364,  365 
Jamestown  Island,  365 
Jane,  Capt.,  342 
Jeukinson's  Ferry,  112 
John  Raine,  steamer,  90 
John   Warner,  steamer,  99,  103, 

104 
Johnson,  President,  149,  397,  414, 

454 
Johnston,    Albert  Sidney,    Gen., 

14,  16,  327 
Johnston,  Joseph,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A., 

71,  72,  77,  146,  147,  306 
Jonesborough,  79 
Jones,  Thomas  Kilby,  2,  3,  349 
Jordan,  Dorninicns,  i 
Julia,  steamer,  334 


Kennesaw  Mountain,  79 
Kentucky,  7 
Kilby,  Thomas,  2,  3 
Kili, 'Capt,  49 
Knoxville,  79 
Kossuth,  167 


Lacy,  J .  //. ,  steamer,  98 
Lafayette,  Tenn.,  218,  228 
La  Grange,  23,  217,  218,  228 
Lake  Cannisnia,  97 
Lake  St.  Joseph,  302 
Larkensville,  La.,  79 
Lathrop,  William,  35 
Laura,  steamer,  390 
Lawrenceburg,  252,  263 
Lee,  Admiral,  376,  377 
Lee,  A.  L.,  Gen.,  94,  95,  136,  359 
Lee,   R.  E.,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A.,  146, 

240,386 
Le  Fevre,  Benj.,  Gen.,  163 


482 


Index 


Legee,  Gen.,  313 

Leibrant,  Henry,  55 

Le  Vert,  Madame,  397-401 

Lexington,    gunboat,    102,    103, 

107,  120 

Lexington,  steamer,  16 
Liberty,  steamer,  98 
Lick  Creek,  13,  163 
Liddell,  Genl.,  103,  105,  392 
Lightburn,  J.  A.  J.,  Gen.,  64,  65, 

68,  81,  298,  308 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  10,  160,  404 
Little  Rock,  30,  79,  93,  112,  139 
Logan  County,  Ohio,  7,  78,  79 
Loggy  Bayou,  97,   101,    105,  112, 

138,  140 

Longfellow,  Professor,  459 
Lossing,  B.  J.,  105 
Louisiana,  38,  264 
Louisiana  Military  Academy,  130 
Louisville,  gunboat,  317 
Louisville,  Ky.,  79,  379 
Loyal  Legion,  military  order  of, 

152-154,  157,  158,  162,  460 
Lucas,  Col.,  127 
Lukin,  Jas.  H.,  Lieut.,  90 
Lynde,  2 
Lytle,  William,  Gen.,  339 


M 


Macaulay,  Thos.  Babington,  275 
Macocheek,  Ohio,  7,  287,  362 
Macon  Bayou,  33 
Madama  Bessiers,  141 
Madisonville,  Miss.,  354 
Mad  River,  8 

Magnolia,  steamer,  280,  283 
Magruder,  Gen.,  85,  86,  135,  138, 

139 

Major,  James  P.,  Gen.,  117,  118 
Malmborg,  Oscar,  Col.,  17,  31,  46, 

5i,  53,  55,  197 
Manassas  Gap,  169 
Manley,  Master,  331 
Mansfield,  94,  97,  101 
Marchant,  A.,  Major,  C.  S.  A.,  320 
Marksville,  91,  121,  138,  357-359 
Maron,  Rodney,  Col.,  12 
Mars,  steamer,  98 
Matamoras,  316 
Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  2 
Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  2 
Matthews,  Stanley,  5,  6 
Maurice,  Rev.  Fr.  C.  P.,  156,  465 
Maury,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A.,  389 
Me  Arthur,  Gen.,  143,  341,  378 


McCharles,  2d  Inf.  O.  V.,  172 
McClellan,   George  B.,  Gen.,  23, 

215,  218,    224,  240 
McClernand,  Gen.,  22,  24,  29-32, 

38,  44,  56,  130,  256,  269,  307 
McCook,    Alex.  McD.,   Col.,    19, 

20,  178 

McCook,  Daniel,  Judge,  173 
McCook,  Ewin  S.,  173 
McCook,  Mrs.,  170 
McCoy,  James  C.,  Capt.,  243,  282 
McCullough,  Arabella,  9 
McCullough,  Elizabeth,  Budd,  8 
McCullough,  William  Budd,  8 
McCullough,  William,  Col.,  8 
McDonald,  C.,  Capt.,  36 
McDowell,  J.  A.,  Col.,  12 
McGill,  George  W.,  163 
McGowan,  Lieut.  U.  S.  N.,  155 
Mcllvaine,  Bishop,  171 
McKee,  George  C.,  Major,  87 
McKinnon,  Rev.  Fr.  S.  J.,  156 
McLean,  Washington,  410 
McMahon,  Thos.,  Lieut.-Col.,  69, 

Si 
McPherson,  James  B.,  Gen.,  15, 

24,  44,  48,  50,  55,  56,  81,  83,  84, 

89,  92,   93,    124,    142,   146,    160, 

336,  342,  353,  362,  369,  386 
Meade,  George  G.,  Gen.,  366 
Meade's  Station,  366 
Memphis,  23-25,  57,  79,  122,  123, 

142,  215,  217,  218,  220,  228-230, 

240,  242-245,  247,  248,  250,  256, 

264,  275,  286,  328,  330,  332,  341 
Merchant,  Clarke,  155 
Meridian,  83,  84,  160,  163 
Meteor,  gunboat,  99,  102,  104 
Mexico,  85 
Miami  River,  275 
Miles,  Col.,  C.  S.  A.,  320 
Miliken's  Bend,  25,  29,  39,  46,  69, 

160,  264,  303,  304,  308,  310,  314 
Mindil,  Geo.  W.,  Gen.,  155 
Mitchel,  Ormsby  M.,  Gen.,  6,  n, 

158 

Mississippi  Division,  124 
Mississippi  5th  Infantry,  C.  S.  A. , 

45 

Missionary  Ridge,  79 
Mississippi  River,  33,  34,  116,  122, 

125,  130,  242,  253,  264,  270,  279, 

280,  286,  321,  322,  327,  328,  330 
Mississippi,  State  of,  244 
Missouri    ist  Artillery,    90,    121, 

122,  129,  140 
Missouri  5th  Infantry,  C.  S.  A.,  45 


Index 


Missouri  6th  Infantry,  247 
Missouri  8th  Infantry,  21,  31,  43, 

53,  267 
Mobile,  85,  86,  124,  131,  145,  147, 

160,  215,  316,  327,  329,  330,  380, 

38i,  383,  384,  386-388,  390,  397, 

403,  406-408,  473 
Mobile  Bay,  147,  380,  387 
Mobile  &  Ohio  R.R.,  142 
Monroe,  138 
Monroe,  Louisiana,  312 
Monroe,  Major,  198 
Monsouri,  140 
Montgomery,  141 
Moore,  I.  T.,  Capt,  49 
Moore,  J.  B.,  Col..  83,  89,  98-100, 

105,  121,  122,  140,  142-144,  375 
Moore's  Plantation,  121 
Moreauville,  91,  121,  357 
Morgan,  George  W.,  Gen.,  26,  27, 

244 
Morse,      Alex.      Porter,      Capt., 

C.  S.  A.,  118 
Morton  Battery,  12 
Moscow  Bend,  22  t 
Moscow,  Miss. ,  23,  320,  328 
Mott,  S.  R.,  Lieut.-Col.,  54,  55 
Moulton,  C.  W.,  163 
Moulton,  Gen.,  138,  139 
Mouth  of  Cane  River,  141 
Mower,  Jos.  A.,  Gen.,  89,  91,  93, 

114,  116,  120,  126,  127,  129,  357, 

358 

Muddy  Bayou,  34 

Mullany,  J.  R.  Madison,  Capt. ,  385   j 
Mungen,  William,  Col.,  12,  15 
Murfreesboro,  365 
Muskingham  River,  275 
Myers,  Lieut.-Col.,  35,  54 


N 


Nale,  John  H.,  Lieut.-Col.,  83,  89, 
92,  121 

Napoleon,  32 

Nashville,  120,  142,  146,  373,  379 

Natchez,  76,  77,  81,  145,  160,  315, 
3*7,  3i8,  32I-323»  328,  330,  334, 
337-339.  34i,  342-345,  347,  35°, 

Natch itoches,    87,   94,    n6,    126, 

127,  129,  140 
Navy,  Secretary  of,  29 
Nelson,  Gen.,  197 
Neosho,  gunboat,  102,  103,  in 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  I 
New  Carthage,  38 


New  Falls  City,  steamer,  97,  101 
New  Hope  Church,  79 
Newman,  Cardinal,  469 
New  Orleans,  36,  77,  81,  140,  141, 

I45i  185,  3*6,  328,  330,  334-336, 

380-383,  406,  408 
Newport  News,  365 
Niblet's  Bluff,  87 
Nicholson,    John   P.,    Col.,    155, 

156,    162 

Nickojack  Creek,  79 
Nine-Mile  Bend,  101 
Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  93,  94, 

105,  115,  126 
No.  /j,  steamer,  103 
Norman's,  141 
Noyes,  Senator,  458 


0 


Ohio,  5,  7,  TO,  261,  265,  275  ;  river, 
3,  12,  275 ;  5th  Cavalry,  222 ; 
44th  Infantry,  10,  n  ;  46th  In 
fantry,  12;  48th  Infantry,  13; 
53d  Infantry,  12  ;  54th  Infantry , 
12,  18,  19,  21,  28-31,  36,  46,  49, 
52,  54,  60,  61,  63,  66,  78,  79,  158, 
163,  196,  203,  204,  249,  252,  258, 
260,  263,  275  ;  57th  Infantry,  12, 
15,  21,  30,  31,  34,  36,  46,  49,  52, 
204,  252,  263  ;  7oth  Infantry,  13  ; 
7ist  Infantry,  12,  16,  196;  72d 
Infantry,  12  ;  77th  Infantry,  12  ; 
83d  Infantry,  30 ;  Society  of 
New  York,  162 

Okalona,  84 

O.  K.  Landing,  141 

Olarte,  Vincent,  Gen.,  417 

Opolousas,  87,  138,  359 

Osage,  gunboat,  102-104,  106,  no, 

III,   120, 

Otie,  Bishop,  of  Memphis,  249 
Otis,  Harrison  Grey,  459  ;    Mrs., 
284 


Paducah,  Ky.,  12,  13,  59,  78,  163, 
181,  186-188,  228,  284,  369,  377, 

379 

Page.  John,  2 
Palmer,  Admiral,  431 
Palmer,  Commodore,  318,  321 
Panama,    148,    149,   415-420,   422, 

425,  429,  431,  433,  438-441,  445- 

448 


484 


Index 


Panama,  Bay  of,  433 

Panama,  Isthmus  of,  2 

Parke,  Gen.,  367 

Parker,  Gen.,  455 

Parsons,  Gen.,  117 

Pea  Ridge,  13,  199 

Pearl  River,  354 

Pemberton,  John  C.,  Gen.,  38,  72, 

298 

Pendleton,  George  H.,  6 
Penn  Monthly,  4 
Perkins,  Judge,  302 
Perry,  W.  McKay,  45 
Petersburg,  Va.,  366,  385 
Piatt,  Abraham  Saunders,  Gen.,  10 
Piatt,  Benj.  M.,  Judge,  7,  8,  297 
Piatt,  Donn,  7,  171 
Piatt,  Elizabeth  Barnett,  8,  172 
Pierce,  Franklin,  9,  192 
Pierce's,  141 
Pittsburg^  gunboat,  no 
Pittsburg  Landing,  14,  16,  17,  29, 

78,  229 

Placquernine,  141 
Pleasant  Grove,  95 
Pleasant   Hill,   94,    95,    102,    106, 

113,  114,  116,  121,  131,  135,  140 
Plymouth  Rock,  248 
Point  Lookout,  365 
Polleys,  J.  W.,    Lieut.-Col.,    89, 

121 

Pontotoc,  84 

Pope,  Gen.,  204 

Port  Gibson,  38,  40 

Port  Hudson,  26,  71,  72,  75,  76, 
in,  314,  315,  318,  320-323 

Port  Raymond,  40 

Porter,  David  D.,  Rear  Admiral, 
25-27,  29-32,  34,  35,  56,  69, 
72,  73,  89,  90,  92-94,  97,  98,  101, 
106,  107,  109-113,  119,  120,  124, 
133,  137,  160,  282,  283,  315-317, 
323,  357,  358,  363 

Post  Office  Department,  168 

P.  Rachels',  141 

Prairie  Rose,  steamer,  189 

Preble  Co.,  O.,  78,  179 

Prentiss,  B.  M.,  Gen.,  16,  19,  196 

Price,  despatch  boat,  319 

Price,  Gen.,  406 

Price,  Stirling,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A.,  94, 
138,  139 

Providence  Lake,  33 

Pugh,  Col.,  89 

Pugh,  George  E.,  6,  343 

Purcell,  J.  B.,  Rt.  Rev.,  8,  156, 
469 


Q 


Quebec,  412,  413 

Queen  of  the  West,  steamer,  316 

Quitman,  Miss,  354 


R 


Ramsey,  Governor,  241 

Randolph,  John,  348 

Ransom,   Gen.,  34-36,  48,  52,  76, 

78,  308,  369,  455 
Rawiius,   John  A.   Gen.,  42,   64, 

77,  94,  95,  323,  368,  401 
Raymond,  Miss.,  39,  46 
Read,  Abner,  322 
Red  River,  33,  86,  87,  88,  90,  93- 

97,  in,   112,  116-119,  121,  124- 

126,   130-133,  137-Mi,  H4,  146, 

160,  242,  357-359 
Red  River  Expedition,  357,  379 
Red  River  Landing,  116 
Regular  Army,  I3th  Infantry,  47, 

50 

Resaca,  79 
Reuben  White's,  141 
Revolutionary  War,  8 
Rhode  Island,  Governor  of,  171 
Rice,  A.  V.,  Col.,  34,  46,  51,  53, 

54,  204 
Richmond,  Va.,  46,   79,   94,  224, 

310,  311,  313,  384-386,  392 
Riddle,  Col.,  366 
Riggiu,  John,  Col.,  70,  343 
Rio  Grande,  88 
Riverside,  N.  Y.,  156 
Roberts,  Lord,  Field  Marshal,  268 
Rob  Roy,  steamer,    99,    102-104, 

109 

Rocky  Springs,  46 
Rodgers,  Mrs.,  317 
Rogall,  Capt.,  193 
Rogers,  A.  W.,  Lieut. -Col.,  90, 

121 

Rolling  Fork,  34,  159 
Root,  Edward  E.,  Lieut.,  54 
Rosecrans,    Gen.,    143,    245,    262, 

278,  303,  469 
Rousseau,  Gen.,  ?o,  201 
Runkle,  Benj.  P.,  Geu.,  193 
Russell  House,  21,  66,  246,  333 


Sabine  Pass,  87,  138  ;  cross  roads, 
94,  95,  106,  112,  114,  119,  135, 
139;  river,  138 


Index 


Sacred  Heart  Convent,  148 
San  dusky  River,  275 
San  Francisco,  431,  438 
Sanger,  Maj.,  243 
Sanitary  Commissioners,  263 
San  Mateo,  Cal,  436 
Sargent,  L.  M.,  2,  3 
Savannah,  Tenn.,  188,  190 
Sawyer,  Gen.,  374 
Scammon,  Gen.,  143,  469 
Schenck,  Robert,  Gen.,  171 
Schmidt,  Godfried  Christian,  Dr., 

i,  3 

Schiller,  299 
Schofield,  Gen.,  143 
Scioto,  275 

Scott,  Thos.  A.,  Col.,  20 
Scott,  Wm.  L.,  Capt.,  89,  140 
Scott,  Winfield,  Gen.,  170,  171 
Seeds,  Lieut.,  285 
Selfridge,  Capt.,  103,  no 
Selfridge,  Thos.  O.,  Lieut.,   106, 

107 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  81,  82, 

89,  90,  92,  97-101,  no,  114,  121- 

123,  124,  331,  338,  342,  355 
Seward,  Secretary,  148 
Seymour,  Horatio,  149,  441 
Shaw,  W.  T.,  Col.,  91 
Sheppard,  I.  H.,  Col.,  70 
Sherer,  J.  L.,  55 
Sheridan,  Phil.,  Gen.,  406,  460 
Sherman,  John,  Senator,  58,  59,  68 
Sherman,  Mrs.,  68,  247-246,  257, 

331 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  Gen.,  7,  12,  13, 
15,  19-23,  25,  27-32,  34,  36,  37- 
39,  43,  45,  47,  48,  5o,  51,  55~6r, 
64-66,  68,  73,  78,  79,  83-85,  87- 
89,  94,  109,  112,  113,  119,  120, 

122,   124,   125,    130,   131,   137,  142, 
146,   148,    I59-I6I,    163,   183,   184, 

186,  190-195,  197,  201-204,  206, 

229,  234-236,  239, 243-245,  247- 

249,  251,  256,  260,  267-269,  271- 
276,  279-284,  289,  290,  298, 303- 

305,  327,  333,  340,  34i,  353,  354, 

356,  362,  365,  369,  374,  386,  411, 

412,  455,  459,  460,  469 
Shiloh,  13,  21,  22,  61,  63,  66,  78, 

159,  163,  191,  i93-I95,  243,  246, 

247,  275,  284,  333,  374 
Shirk,  Capt.,  U.  S.  N.,  16,  243 
Shreveport,  87-89,  93,  94,  96,  98, 

112,  114,  132,  135,  137-14^ 
Silver  Moon,  steamer,  363 
Silver  Wave,  36 


Simmesport,  90,  91,  112,  116,  130, 

135,  357,  359 

Sioux  City,  steamer,  98,  104 
Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  83,  89,  94, 

97,  107,  114,  122,  127,  128,  137 
Smith,  A.  J.,  Gen.,  26,  28,  46,  47, 

89,    90,    92-98,    104,    107,    1 10- 

114,  120-125,  127,    129-131,  133, 

138,  142-144,  252,  356,  357,  359, 

362,  374-376,  378,  410 
Smith,  C.  F.,  Gen.,  16,  192 
Smith,  E.  Kirby,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A., 

86,  96,  112,  135,  147,  178,  208, 

244,  384,  395 
Smith,  Eliza  Bicker,  8,  51,  68,  80, 

150 

Smith,  Elizabeth  Budd,  9,  186 
Smith,  Fannie,  Mrs.,  192 
Smith,  George,  i,  5,  6,  8 
Smith,  Giles  A.,  Gen.,  29,  30,  34, 

40,  42-45,  47,  48,  52,  53,  65,  267, 

Smith,  J.  Condict,  Capt.,  24-, 
Smith,  Marshall,  Col.  C.  S.  A., 

320 
Smith,  Morgan  L.,  Gen.,  20,  21, 

24-26,  65,  204,  208,  234,  235,  237, 

251,  267 
Smith,  Mrs.,  2 

Smith,  Theodore  Dehon,  465 
Smith,  W.  Sooy,  Gen.,  83,  84 
Snake  Creek,  13 

Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  455 

South~iuester,  steamer,  98 
Spanish  Fort,   145,  384,  386 
Spooner,  Benj.  J.,  Col.,  41,  46,  49, 

52,  54,  252,  277 
Sprague,  Governor,  171 
Springfield,     93,     97,    107,     108 ; 

Landing,  105,  108 
Stanley,  Gen.,  143 
Stanton,    Ewin   M.,   15,    23,    68, 

169,  238 

Steadman,  Col.,  C.  S.  A.,  320 
Steele,  Frederic,  Gen.,  26,  42,  44, 

47,  50,   86,  88,  89,  93,  94,  112, 

122,  138,  139 

Steele's  Bayou,  33,  34,  282 
Stewart,  Senator,  439 
St.  Joseph,  La.,  317,  322 
St.  Louis,  124,  145,  185 
St.  Maurice,  141 
St.  Paul,  Minn.,  455,  456 
Stockton,  Jos.,  Lieut.-Col.,  Si 
Stone,  Gen.,  320 
Stone,  James  Kent,  471 


486 


Index 


Storer,  Bellamy,  Judge,  115 
Strickle,  A.  G.,  Capt.,  69 
Stuart,  David,  Gen.,  12,  17-20,  26, 
27,  3°,  31,  34,  35,  37,  62,  63,  66, 
163,  184,  192,  194,  201-204,  206, 
252,  257,  264,  269,  280,  283,  353 
Sturgis,  S.  D.,  Gen.,  142 
Sullivan,  Peter  J.,  Col.,  13 
Sunflower  River,  32 
Sunny  South,  steamer,  249,  250, 

254,  264 
Swallow,  steamer,  279 


Tallahatchie  River,  22,  33,  249 
Taylor,  Lieut,  5th  Ohio  Cavalry, 

243 

Taylor,  Maj.,  48,  243,  255 
Taylor,  Richard,  Gen.,  C.  S.  A., 

70,  94,  96»  H7,  "8,  138,  139,  309, 

3H-3I3,  395 

Taylor,  W.  H.  H.,  Col.,  101,  243 
Teche  Co.,  Texas,  87 
Tennessee  River,  374-376,  378 
Tensas  River,  33,  310 
Terry,  Gen.,  369 
Texas,  86,  87,  94,  139,  147,  185 
Thayer,  42 

Thielmann's  Cavalry,  54 
Third  Div.  Detach.  Army  of  the 

Tennessee,  143,  144 
Thirteenth  Army  Corps,   25,    30, 

38,  93,  94,  129.  130 
Thirteenth  Regulars,  307 
Thirty-seventh  Ohio  Volunteers, 

10 

Thomas  E,  Tutt,  steamer,  98,  99 
Thomas,  George  H,,  Gen.,  142, 

211,  290,  343,  369,  378,  379,460 
Tiemayer,  Lieut.,  102,   121,   122, 

140 

Tiger  Island,  141 
Tod,  Governor  of  Ohio,  223 
Torresdale,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  148 
Townsend,  Capt.,  359 
Trelawney  Papers,  i 
Trinity,  138 

Trogden,  Howell  G.,  Private,  43 
Trumbull,  Chaplain,  U.  S.  V.,  155, 

162 

Tullis,  James,  Lieut-Col.,  121 
Tupelo,  142 
Tupper,  Gen.,  43 
Tupper,  N.  I.,  Col.,  40 
Tuttle,  Gen.,  42 
Twelfth  U.  S.  Infantry,  12 


U 


Ulffers,  H.  A.,  Lieut.,  75 
Ulm,  Germany,  i 
Union  Army,  n 
Union  Club,  Memphis,  317 
Union  Defence  Committee,  177 
Union,  Federal,  10 
United  States  Marshal,  9 
United  States  Senate,  9,  37 
Universe,  steamer,  99,  104 
Upton,  Captain,  317 
Urbana,  Ohio,  455 

V 

Vallandigham,  343,  441 

Venables,  Richard  S.,  Captain, 
101 

Vicksburg,  24-26,  29,  33,  34,  38- 
42,  45,  56,  61,  63,  65,  68,  69,  71, 
72,  76,  78-80,  82-85,  90,  92,  93, 
113,  116,  121-123,  T42,  159,  163, 
242,  249,  251,  261,  262,  264,  266, 
277,  279,  281,  283,  291,  292,  294- 
296,  298,  300,  306,  307,  309,  311, 
314,  315,  317,  3*9,  320,  322,  323, 
327-330,  333,  334,  336,  339,  34o, 
342-344,  346,  353,  354,  357,  367, 

384,  387,  459 
Vicksburg  Papers,  272 
Virgin,  H.  H.,  Maj.,  121 
Virginia,  124 
Vivian,  steamer,  390 


Walker,  J.  G.,  Gen.,  40,  69,  91,  358 

Wallace,  W.  H.  L.,  Gen.,  16    ' 

Walnut  Hills,  68,  297,  299,  305 

Walter,  Eliza  Bicker,  2,  150 

Walter,  Nehemiah,  4 

Walter,  William,  150 

Ward,  Lyman,  Col.,  90,  121,  122, 

140 
Ward,  W.  C.,  Col.,  91,98-101,  105, 

127,  358 

Warner,  William,  Maj.,  83,  90,  140 
Warren  County,  8 
Warren,  Gen.,  367 
Warrenton,  La.,  293 
Washburne,  C.  C.,  Gen.,  122,  123, 

142 
Washington  City,  9,  TO,  24,  29,  59, 

79,  143.  144,   M6,   147,   152,  167, 

257,  379,  38o,  397,  414,  454,  459 
Washington,  George,  Gen.,  248, 

467 


Index 


487 


Washita  River,  33,  138 

Waterloo,  141 

Water  Oaks,  point  of,  19 

Webster,  Daniel,  411 

Weitsel,  Gen.,  366 

West,  Gen.,  117 

West  Liberty,  Ohio,  7 

West  Point,  332,  342,  356 

Wetm ore,  John  H.,  Capt.,  90,  140 

405 

White,  G.  M.,  Capt.,  54 
White  Lake,  105 
White  River,  30,  258 
White,  Sergeant,  278,  279 
White's  Station,  228 
Williams,  Capt.,  294 
Willis,  James,  Lieut. -Col.,  89 
Willow  Point,  141 
Willow  Springs,  46,  301 
Wilson's  Landing,  365 
Wilson,  Lieut.,  173,  384 
Winslow,  Edward  F.,  Col.,  83 
Wisconsin  I4th  Infantry,  81,  89, 

90,  121,  142  ;  1 7th  Infantry,  Si  ; 

33d  Infantry,  89,  90,  121 
Wolfenbiittel,  Germany,  i 


Wolf  River,  23,  220,  249 
Woodford,  transport  boat,  136 
Woodward  College,  158 
Woodward  High  School,  5 
Woodward,  Paul,  104 
Wordin,  Maj.,  C.  S.  S., 
Worthington,  Thos.,  Col.,  12,  224, 
235 


Yazoo  City,  282 

Yazoo  River,  25,  26,  32,  33,  36,  83, 
160,  250,  264,  275,277,  291,  292, 
304,  314,  346,  352-354,  372,  377 

Yellow  Bayou,  116,  121,  140 

Yellow  Creek,  13 

Yellow  Springs,  Ohio,  68,  69,  142 

Yeoman,  Capt.,  258,  259,  263 

Young's  Point,  32,  34,  36,  39,  60, 
61,  266,  268,  271,  279,  282,  284- 
286,  288-292,  301,  316,  377,  388 


Zouave  Regiment,  285 


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